Of Alchemy and Magic
by Blackshadow999
Summary: Two ideas that rarely come together, science and magic. Join Matthew Selvess and Negi Springfield as they go to teach at Mahora Academy. With Matthew in a world that he's still learning about, which is similar yet so different from the world that he knows, what could possible happen? An alchemist and wizard, will there be chaos or the greatest adventure?
1. Arrival on the Job

**Of Magic and Alchemy**

 **A/n**

 **An idea that I had last year, but didn't come fast. However, the subject of other 'unusual abilities' or fictional skills verses magic, has always fascinated me! Hence, this story is specifically, Magic verses Alchemy, not in opposition, but more a contest of sorts. This is a crossover between Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood and Negima Magister Negi Magi. I'm using my character Matthew from Full Metal Alchemist and putting him into a different world than his own. Anyways, enough from me, let the story begin!**

Chapter 1: Arrival on the Job

There are many people who believe that magic is a myth or a fairy tale, such would be wrong. 'Magic' does exist, but is kept hidden from those who can't use it or know about it. This is a story about a young user of magic and his journey to become a great wizard, like his father. Along with an unusual friend to help him and watch out for our young magician, a friend who is a stranger to the world of technology and magic. Yet this person has his wits and skills unlike any other, what could happen to our pair? We find our two protagonists riding a 747 jet on its way to the country of Japan. Their names are Negi Springfield and Matthew Selvess.

Negi Springfield was almost ten years old and had a height of 4'7". The boy had shoulder length red-orange hair tied in a tail at the back of his head, which accented his brown eyes. He was currently wearing a suit, despite his childlike appearance ruining any attempt at a professional air. To top off his looks, Negi had a small pair of glasses sitting on his nose. Negi was sitting in his seat on the plane with an expression of deep thought and nervousness. Most of those thoughts were on his assignment he had gotten upon graduation from the magic academy.

Our other protagonist, Matthew Selvess, appeared to be in his early to mid-twenties with a height of 5'11". His hair is tan in color and in the back and on the sides has the length down to his mid upper back. And as he normally did, had it tied in tight pony tail like style, but the knot was tied at the top of his neck rather than the back of the head as the pony tail is traditionally done. Matthew's eyes are an orchid color, which tend to get noticed by others as the color isn't one you see often. He was wearing a grey long sleeve collared shirt and black pants. Yet the pieces of clothing that people would wonder about, were the white gloves he wore that went a little beyond his wrists and the silver overcoat that he liked to have on.

Matthew was dozing as the flight went on, ignoring those around Negi and himself staring at the odd pair that easily stuck out. He was used to stares as such happened often enough with the good looks he had, one could easily call him handsome or a pretty boy.

-Matthew's pov-

I jerked awake as this craft shook as it moved through the air towards the country known as Japan. I'm amazed by this marvel of engineering this… 'airplane' others here call it, really is. Back in Amestris, we didn't have anything like this, travel was done by train mostly, but to have large metal construction be able to carry people vast distances… it's incredible! Yet everyone here in this world takes it for granted, as nothing out of the ordinary. This plane, is only one of the many things here that have fascinated me and amazed me in ways, only studies of alchemy have been able to do. The world I was currently in was so different from the one I called home… how might you ask did I get here to this strange world where science has been able to accomplish such feats? Well… it's all the fault of one that I detest, because whenever 'Truth' is involved with something I do, it turns out to be long and doesn't go the way I wish it to! Hence, the cause to why I'm stuck here in a world I'm still learning about, even after being here for a good amount of time. There is more to the story of what went on between the being known simply as 'Truth' and myself, but it's something I don't like to get into. Much like the rest of what has gone on between Truth and myself.

So, I'm flying on this plane with my current traveling companion, the boy Negi Springfield. He's a good kid, talented in the art he practices, to the point that he can be considered a prodigy… kind of reminds me of myself and Maria when we were younger. Negi had graduated from the school he had gone to and now was doing a kind of apprenticeship. I looked over at him and noted he was looking pretty nervous, "Hey Negi, you okay? I mean, you're looking really stressed and we're not even to this country, Japan yet." I inquired of the boy.

Negi's head snapped over to look at me, "Oh Matthew, you're awake… Why would you think I'm nervous? I'm just fine." he answered me, his native homeland's accent audible.

Kept staring at Negi for a full ten seconds, "You really think you can get me to wave off this? You'll have to do a far cry better than this to convince me Negi. Lest you forget, I've had years to learn the subtle signs that body language gives from most people. You're nervous Negi, it's clear to me and I'm telling you, there's no need to be stressing like you are." I iterated.

Negi lowered his head and didn't say anything in reply. I patted the nine-year-old on the shoulder in an effort to ease the nervousness of the boy. Yet, I don't think my gesture helped much as he still appeared nervous. Having done what I could, I returned to my napping, as I felt that once Negi and I arrived in Japan and at the school that Negi was going to be a teacher at, we would be busy and have little time to rest or sleep. And I do pride myself in being able to sleep anywhere…

 **-Scene Change-**

" _Attention all passengers, this is your captain speaking. We're beginning final approach into Tokyo international Airport and will be landing in approximately ten minutes. Local time is 8 AM, the weather is clear skies and sunny. On behalf of our flight crew and myself, we're glad you chose to fly with us and hope you'll do so in future."_ Came the voice of the pilot over the speaker system.

The announcement snapped me out of the nap I had been having. Blinking a little, before I straightened up in my seat, stretching a bit to work out the tiredness that the nap hadn't rid me of. I looked over to Negi and saw that excitement had taken hold and was helping the boy control his apprehension.

Once the airplane landed and we got off, it took us around a half an hour to collect our luggage that we didn't carry on to the craft itself. We stuck together and that seemed to help both of us get through… Oh what do people call them? Security check points I think… Where we were asked a list of questions about ourselves and what we had in our things. Reminds me of my early days in the state military. Anyways, when that was done, we came out of the airport into the capitol of this country and… Well, I was impressed to say the least. It brought to mind some of the time I spent in Xing, Amestris's eastern neighbor, and that had been interesting.

The next leg of our trip, required us to catch a train, and one that was different than the locomotives I have seen. It only used one single rail and ran off of electricity, not steam or heat like what I've traveled on back home. Negi and I rode the train for an hour to the town of Mahora, where the school we would be teaching at was.

Both Negi and I stepped off the train from Tokyo and walked a short distance to a platform for the trolley system there is here in this town that surrounds the academy. We got off at the entrance of the school with our things, Negi with his large knapsack and me with my rolling truck, standing before the gate. I glanced down at Negi who was on my left, "Negi, take deep breaths, you'll do just fine and remember, I'm here if you need help or advice." I said to help comfort the boy that had become my friend over the years that I had known him.

I had known Negi for the majority of his life, even if I only look like I'm in my early to mid-twenties, I'm actually quite an amount older than I appear. It's not my fault I don't look my true age, I blame it on the actions of the one I loathe, 'Truth'.

"Negi my man, he's right, you need to calm down and relax." Said a white ermine that popped out of Negi's large knapsack and moved to stand on Negi's right shoulder.

Negi turned his head to look at the ermine, "Ch-Ch-Chamo!" stuttered Negi.

The 'ermine's' name, was Albert Chamomile or Chamo for short, an annoyance I have learned to tolerate only when I had to. Chamo claims to have been a human, a wizard sometime in the past that was turned into an ermine for a punishment, though I have my doubts if that's true. By what Nekane Springfield, Negi's cousin that he sees and treats like an older sister said, Chamo was Negi's familiar which is far more believable to me. I myself, don't get along with the white ermine as he gets on my nerves, fairly rare as it is for me to meet someone that does irk me. It's due to the major issue I have with him, he's an outright pervert and I detest perverts with fervor! Poor Negi is so naïve, that he doesn't understand what Chamo's drive is, but I can see it clear as day. Have seen many a perverts' drive, far too often in my lifetime, to mistake the signs that are put off, they're similar to one another.

"You are freaking out bro! Women can see and sense fear and nervousness! You can't show them any of that! Do you want these Japanese school girls to walk all over you?! Take a breath and man up, cause it's your time to shine!" Continued Chamomile.

Negi wasn't looking any better after the 'pep talk'; I let out a sigh, "Why Nekane didn't stop you from tagging along with us Chamomile, I'll never know. Negi, the first piece of friendly advice to you as you set out in this journey of yours from someone who has your best interests in mind, don't listen to him!" I said jabbing a finger at Chamomile, "This white rat will cause you trouble and lead you down paths you'll regret for much of your life my friend!"

Chamomile bristled at my remark, "I told you not to call me white rat! I'm an ermine, an ermine fairy!" he shot back.

Ah… this brings back memories of how I use to tease Edward Elric about his height… it's the only reason I tolerate this rat… good times, good times. I smirked in response to the retort, "You can say that as many times as you want, but you're still white, look like a rat and act dirty like one; hence, the reason I call you a white rat, or I can go with dirty white rat like I do sometimes. As for the 'fairy' bit, that doesn't make a lick of difference, so doesn't go into your name." I stated with a bit of mirth.

"Come on you two," interjected Negi, trying to dispel the tension between Chamo and myself.

My attention shifted when I heard the bell of a trolley from behind us followed by a commotion. When I looked back, I noted the large crowd of girls about to exit the trolley car and looking at the numbers of girls, the car is packed full. … I've a really BAD feeling about where we're standing right now, time to move! I followed my instincts, that have yet, to lead me wrong by the end of any given situation. So, I stepped out and away of the main walkway to the academy campus entrance. The girls flooded out of the trolley in droves, Negi spun around at hearing the commotion from behind and squealed in fright as the wave of high school and middle school girls rushed at him. Thanks to my height, which was taller than most of the girls, I stopped where I was, turned and waded back into the crowd and managed to get closer to where Negi was crouching down, reached in, grabbed and pulled up. In my hand, was Negi as I had him by the knapsack he had been carrying; the kid was curled up into a near ball and was shaking. Girls kept rushing past the two of us, not even giving us a glance as they entered the school grounds.

"Negi, you can open your eyes now, you're safe as I've got you and won't let you go." I said in a gentle tone of voice.

Negi cracked his eyes open and looked around, seeing that I had him in a safe position, he turned his head to face me. "Thank you Matthew, I didn't know what I was going to do." He commented.

I smiled, "Sure Negi, your welcome; you're still a kid and have much to learn, but with the heart and mind you have, don't doubt you could do whatever you wish to." I replied.

Negi… Being around him, I feel close to how I did when I traveled with my younger sister Maria. So, I fall into old habits of mine and looked after Negi much like I would for Maria… before she got trapped in a suit of armor. Thing is, Negi doesn't seem to mind my actions of treating him almost like a younger sibling. By this time, the flood of female students had passed and now the area in front of the entrance of the academy was clear. Negi suddenly became worried and started looking around, searching for something. "Where's Chamo?" He asked.

Oh yeah… Lost sight of the white rat, don't really care much about what happens to him most of the time. I glanced around searching for the color white as that would be the best way to spot the pervert. Caught sight of Chamomile and I couldn't help but snicker at his condition, "Negi, look to your left a little, about ten feet away." I said, managing to not laugh out loud, but it was hard.

It was obvious that the white rat had been trampled by the crowd of girls and it was amusing to see the results. Why… Because, if I'm not mistaken, some of the girls had been wearing heels, the marks don't lie. I set Negi down on the ground and he rushed over to the rat, "Chamo, are you alright?!" Negi asked worriedly.

Chamomile sat up, "I saw my life flash before my eyes, no joke bro!" He said.

I laughed, "Oh my Chamomile, having girls rushing at you… Would've thought you would be happy to have that occurring to you." I remarked as I walked over to the two, I leaned down to the rat and whispered in Chamomile's ears, "Isn't that every pervert's dream and wish, ya dirty white rat?"

That last line silenced Chamomile, and once we gathered ourselves together, the three of us began heading towards the Dean's office of this school. Technically, neither of us knew exactly where the dean's office was, but I expect that we would bump into one of the staff here and they will be able to point us in the right direction. We had entered one of the larger structures and we wondering down a corridor and found at the other end a white blonde haired man. The guy was close to six foot in height, was wearing a white suit with black dress shirt with red tie. He had glasses on, and there was scruff along his chin and as I looked over at Negi, the board smile at seeing the guy, he clearly knew him. "Takamichi!" Negi called.

After a short introduction and catch up session for Negi, Takamichi guided us to our destination, saving us the time we would have been looking around for the office. Both Negi and I entered the office, which was large and at the end was an older gentleman sitting at a wood desk. The man was bald except for the single white braid of hair that came out of the back of his head and went down his back. His eyebrows were bushy and long, which fit with his long mustache and beard. He was wearing clothing style similar to the neighbor of Amestris, Xing. Negi bow to Dean Konoe, "Negi Springfield, reporting for duty as a teacher here sir." He greeted.

I nodded my head in greeting, "My name is Matthew Selvess, here to fill a teaching position along with Negi here." I said introduced myself.

"Welcome to you both, I look forward to seeing how you two perform as teachers here." Replied Dean Konoe.

So, Negi would be teaching English to second class A as well as being that class's homeroom teacher. Kind of Surprised though, for a near ten-year-old to be put in charge of a class of around thirty fourteen to fifteen-year-old girls, makes me wonder whose bright idea that was. Then for me, I would actually be teaching two different classes and for two different age groups. The first would be Pre-Algebra for the second year middle school, maybe even for the same class Negi is teaching, don't know yet. And the other class I would be responsible for was high school level Chemistry, which I was looking forward to doing.

After the Dean gave us the basic run down of the rules and regulations of the academy, Takamichi escorted Negi and myself to my young friend's first class. I was going to be observing, or really, my feeling is there with Takamichi to perform crowd control as needed. We'll see how things go in this I guess…

We walked for less than ten minutes, when my ears caught the sounds of girls laughing about whatever they were. Once we reached the door to the classroom that had a brass plate that had "2-A" printed on it, Negi opened it and Takamichi and I followed him into the room. Directly forward of the door I saw a group of girls who had looked to the door and at seeing Takamichi, one of them fell backward.

The girl that fell backward was different than pretty much any female that I've seen in my lifetime. She was 163 centimeters in height or there abouts, was developing into a woman but wasn't finished doing so. Her hair screamed odd, and I've seen some odd colors, but never have I seen orange like this girl had. The glimpse I had gotten of her eyes had shown me that her eyes were different colors, a rare thing, yet not unheard of. The left eye was a neutral blue color and the right was a light green shade. Negi, bless his heart, went over to the girl that had 'fainted' and was looking her over, "Excuse me, are you alright?" Asked Negi.

I strode into the room and came to stand next to Takamichi, looking around the room and my worries for Negi grew as I did so. Yes, I knew from the moment I got to read Negi's assignment that this would be difficult, but with all these girls here… I don't think Negi or I really understood the scope of this when we started out on this journey. Things got worse when the girls noticed my presence; Negi coming in had put them into an uproar, whereas I caused silence to fall over the room… what a pair we are, aren't we?

Takamichi stepped forward, "Good morning ladies, if you could please take your seats." He said calmly.

I had to give high marks to Takamichi Takahata, he had a knack of getting cooperation from these girls. One of the girls in the middle row of seating raised her had, "Professor Takahata, who are these two and why are they here?" She asked with a tone of confusion.

"A very good question Haruna," responded Takamichi and pointed to Negi, "This here is Professor Negi Springfield, he will be your homeroom teacher as well as your English teacher."

"No way!" Shouted the orange haired girl that had 'fainted' before.

Then Takamichi gestured to me, "And he is Professor Matthew Selvess, another new teacher here at Mahora along with Negi here. Please be nice and welcome them." He said.

I glanced over at Negi and saw the signs that he was stressing and beginning to panic with the current situation. The poor kid's standing worsened when almost all the girls in the room began to talk over one another and so it turned into chaotic noise. Was about to step forward and get this lot of females to quiet down, when a golden blonde haired girl in the front stood up and shouted for them to simmer down. The rest in the room did exactly what the blonde said and Takamichi smiled, "Why thank you so much Ayaka." He said.

The girl was named Ayaka, by what the muttering from the others here said and she was the class representative, or the 'leader' of this group. That's nice to know for future reference if things go an unexpected way. Anyways, Negi got a hold of himself and began the class by taking attendance, which during, I noted that two students were absent. As Negi continued, I felt a tap on my right shoulder, and upon turning, I saw that it was Takamichi motioning to me to follow him. When I did so, we slipped out of the classroom without drawing attention to ourselves. Once out of the room, Takamichi told me that the Dean wanted to ask me something while Negi was busy teaching.

So, I went with Takamichi, back to the Dean's office to meet with the older man for whatever he wanted to talk to me about that he didn't when Negi and I had been in his office before. Once in the room, I focused my attention on Dean Konoe, "Ah, thank you for coming back to my office to meet with me. I have a request for you Mr. Selvess, if you would listen." Began Dean Konoe.

"Sure, what is it that you have, which you believe I can help with?" I asked, rather curious as to what the head of this academy would ask me to do.

"As I'm sure you know, this academy teaches students of the ages that start at kindergarten and go into university level of education. Elementary aged students live around with their families, but starting with the second year of middle school and going up from there, students are required to live on campus in dormitories." Explained the Dean.

I was nodding in understanding to what the man was saying, I had done research into this school. This world that is similar to the one I know and come from but there are also differences. For instance, there is this thing they call the 'inter-net' a name I don't get at all, but the internet is like a near endless library that one can dive into. Have spent many a night searching it, or as many say 'surfing' it; I have no idea why they call the activity that, but not the point. With it, I had looked into this academy once Nekane had asked me to go with Negi and I agreed to do so. I'd already known about the system for seeing to the wellbeing of the students and don't disagree with it, even if I began traveling at around the age of the students that Negi is teaching now. So then, what is it that this old guy is asking me to do, I'm having trouble figuring out what the point of this. Wish he would just tell me outright and get this done so that I can move on to other things.

"And so, as you are known by others as an extremely responsible adult, I was hoping you could take on the job of one of the second year dorm manager while you teach here for the year." Finished Dean Konoe.

I blinked at hearing what the man was asking me to do, for I hadn't expected anything like it. I found use of my voice after a minute and a half, "I beg your pardon, did you just ask me to be the manager of a dorm for second year middle schoolers?" I asked in mild disbelief, thinking that I had heard wrong.

The Dean nodded and when I glanced back at Takamichi, the expression on his face said that this 'request' was no joke being made. Turning back to face the dean, I felt like I needed to confirm if all of us in this room understood what was being asked, and its implications. "So, let me see if I'm hearing you right Dean Konoe, just to confirm I comprehend this correctly. You want me, a young guy who is in the early stages of his prime years, to look after a group of thirty to forty girls who are fourteen to fifteen years in age and are in the middle of going through puberty. Or put simply and bluntly, you want me to be a long term baby sitter for the group of girls, is that what you're saying?" I asked.

"It can be seen that way, yes." Replied the Dean.

I paused for a moment, thinking about how to reply, but as the two men kept staring at me expectantly, I sighed, "Could you give me a few moments to think about this request?" I inquired.

"But of course, I would wonder if you didn't take some time to think about this." Remarked Dean Konoe kindly.

Thankful that the older man was willing to give me some time to consider the job he wanted to me, I set down to it and began to pace the length of the room. So, as I see it, there are a few issues with this post. The first, I'm a young looking man with what many females judge to be handsome in appearance. An idea I have had to experience quite a number of times during my travels with Maria, and though I have no real problem with it, I can't say that I like being fawned over by lots of girls. That said, I can't see a large gaggle of fourteen to fifteen year olds, with the hormones that would be running rampant in them, allow them to ignore a guy like myself easily. The second potential problem, I'm not what people might call sympathetic to the issues of others… especially teenagers' problems. The way other complain about what is going wrong in their lives, I find fairly annoying. To me, the problems of others aren't that bad, but then, I've had a life that I would wish on none other with the pain I've had to endure. The distant third point that might become problematic, would be if any of the girls were to find out about my… artificial limbs… that could bring up questions that I don't answer. Female teens, or at least those I've come across, don't understand and won't accept no for an answer.

Yet, if things could be arranged and some ground rules made, then maybe this wouldn't be all that bad of an experience. Big point would be having a space, preferably a room for me to live in and not be accessible to girls without permission. If I can get that at the very least, I could do this job and who knows, it might make things a little entertaining… never have been one for the dull and quiet life myself. The time traveling with Maria has made sure that I'm used to an active life. I focused my gaze back on the Dean, "Okay, I'll accept the job, BUT, on a few conditions." I said.

"And those conditions are?" posed the Dean.

"Well, the first would be that I get a room or living space that girls can't come in without permission and that I can change as I see need to. It would help all those concerned if there were spaces that can be considered private areas. Plus, I have some particular preferences that tend to not already exist in a regular room and so, I make sure they're met myself. And the other condition, I can institute rules as I see the need to on top of the dorm rules that are already in place. Not to say that I intend to do anything improper or wrong, mostly for fine tuning the existing rules and keep problems from coming up with sharing living space." I said listing my conditions, then a thought popped into my mind, "Oh… And before I forget, I was wondering where and whom Negi will be staying with."

The Dean laughed, "Don't ask for much do you? As to your first two conditions, they are perfectly acceptable. For the question about your colleague Negi, I have asked my granddaughter to provide a place and she has agreed to do so on behalf of her roommate and herself, at least until we can make other arrangements. They both live in the very dorm you will be managing in fact, should you accept." He answered me.

I exhaled in acceptance, "Fine, I'll do the job." I relented.

So now, I get to be a baby sitter for a large group of girls… while looking after a kid that thinks that he can do anything he believes he can. Oh well, this can't be much harder than the early days with Maria on our journey to fix the mistake that we made of trying to bring dad back. Since I had no classes to teach today, unlike Negi; I used the remainder of the day to customize my living space. Yet, Takamichi did hand over two folders that contained the rolls for both classes that I would be teaching.

The living space that I was given, was basically the same area that of a dorm room for two people that the girls were assigned to, though I think the room was more used for storage. But now, I was going to make it a place for me to live in for the next six months, if not longer. In the room, someone had gone to the effort of making sure there were some of the basic amenities; a bed, the setup of a kitchen and simple furniture. After taking in what I had to start with, I set out rent a truck and began gathering materials and supplies.

The nice thing for me when it comes to supplies, it doesn't matter what shape it's in or how many pieces it might be in. I can use Alchemy to change the raw material into whatever I want shape and structure wise. It was mid-afternoon by the time I had everything at the room I would need. Took off my silver overcoat that I still wore as a memento to the work I have done during the time I had traveled with my younger sister, as those times were some of the best in my life thus far. I moved the materials to where they would become whatever piece of furniture I would turn them into. Once I had the pile of materials in the places that I planned them to be, I began using my abilities in alchemy to transmute the raw material. The room was bathed in blue light and arced with what appeared to be blue lightning was running over the floor, walls, ceilings and the stuff I brought in. When I was finished, the room looked a great deal different and I stared on with a bit of pride at my work.

The space was still made up of two rooms, one bigger than the other. The larger room consisted of a sitting area and kitchen section. The kitchen is directly on the right of the door entering the room, a ten-foot-long and five-foot-wide space had counters along the wall forward from the door and had a bar like setup for two thirds of the counter. The refrigerator was in the corner, next to the end of the counter space. Down the short 'hall that the kitchen makes from the door, opens onto a sitting room, which has a table with four chairs. There is also a sofa that is opposite of a whiteboard that I could work with in whatever I needed. On the side of the sofa that was closest to the door, was a doorway that led to the bedroom. In the bedroom, the queen sized bed was along the wall opposite of the entryway with space on either side. To the left of the doorway, was a heavy duty desk and a place for me to tune up and doing repairs on my artificial limbs. There was also a small alcove on the right side of the doorway, which contained a toilet and sink.

I smiled at the sight my work, taking pride in what I had accomplished with my use of alchemy, an exact and predictable science. Negi may have his skills in 'magic', I still see what he does being elemental manipulation and not magic. But then, I don't believe in magic; it doesn't exist and is just a glorified word used to explain what another doesn't understand or doesn't know the words to do so. And with some of the weird crap and unbelievable thing I've seen and gone through, me saying I don't believe magic exists, when most would consider what I've seen crazy beyond recognition… just saying.

Looking down at my watch and seeing that it was 4:30 pm, I decided to go and see how Negi was doing after his first day as a teacher for girls that are a couple of years older than him. Smart as Negi is, he is a near ten-year-old boy, that isn't something you can deny emotionally speaking, he is ten as his physically appearance suggests, just far smarter than average for his age group. Managed to find my young friend sitting by the fountain that was on the way to the island that I'm told and found out through my research, housed the library of the Mahora Academy. Haven't had a chance to go there, but I'm looking forward to doing so, taking into account my love affair and addiction with books, not surprising I think.

So, from the small talk with Negi that I had, his day hadn't been easy, not that I had expected it to be for him. However, he had made it through both the homeroom portion and the English class that he will teach and that's what's important. I faced Negi, "So then Negi, what do you think about dinner?" I asked him.

"That sound good." Negi answered my question.

We both rose, hadn't a clue what we would have for dinner, but it would give the two of us an excuse to explore the town here. However, before Negi and I could head out, a girl long black hair that went to a little over a half a foot below her hips. She had a height of 152 cm, and I would estimate by my observation, her three sizes are around 73cm for her bust, 54cm on her waist and about 76cm around her hips. Her eyes were brown and appeared kind. … I think I've seen her face before, perhaps in one of my roll books? I've always been horrible with putting names to their corresponding face and appearance, Maria always had a better memory for that kind of thing than I do.

"Hello Professor Springfield, I'm Konoka Konoe." The black haired girl greeted us.

I was taken aback at hearing Negi being addressed as not just 'professor', but by his last name… it doesn't fit Negi. And this girl's last name as she said was Konoe, related to the Dean maybe? Negi bowed to her, "It's nice to meet you Miss Konoka." Greeted Negi.

I inclined my head to the young lady when Negi finished his greeting, "Indeed, nice to meet you Miss Konoe, name's Matthew Selvess if you have forgotten, colleague of Negi here as I'm a fellow teacher here at this academy." I said curtly.

Konoka bowed to me and then she guided both of us back to the dorm. I followed the two as the girl showed Negi to the room that he would be staying in. Once I knew which room he would be in, I whispered to him, "Negi, so that you know, if you need time away from the girls that live in this dorm, then my room is down at the end of the hall on the left. Plus, if you're still interested in dinner, then drop by."

Negi stared at me, "You're staying in this dorm Matthew?" He asked.

I nodded, "You're looking at the newly instated manager of this second year dorm." I replied, ruffling Negi's hair gently.

Leaving Negi with Konoka Konoe, I headed back to my room and made myself some dinner and began preparing for the lessons I would teach tomorrow. In the morning, I would be teaching pre-algebra to 2nd year middle school and after looking at the roll book, from just seeing a couple of the students, I could see that I would be teaching class 2-A, the one that Negi is the homeroom teacher of. In the afternoon, I had the high school chemistry course; the subject of chemistry was easy to me, its subject matter was based by what I've understood, in an area of Alchemy, one that I'm an expert in. When I was done eating, I cleaned up and finished readying my lessons, before Entering my bedroom to prepare to retire for the night.

In my bedroom, there was one point that I made sure to put in that most wouldn't understand the purpose of. That being a sturdy handrail going from the desk to the bed, it was for me to use when I took off my artificial limbs. So, to waste no more time I stripped down to my underwear and walked over to the desk.

Now, I didn't have my automail attached to the ports built into my left shoulder and right thigh. Would love to use them still, but they're bulky and I get strange looks when people notice. Plus, with those 'security check points' they have what they call metal detectors, which set off an alarm when I used my automail. My current artificial limbs are made of what is called plastic, a material that isn't made up of a metallic alloy, yet had great strength and durability. Quite amazing stuff, been looking into see if I can work with the material with alchemy, but don't have much results yet.

The left arm was molded into the shape of a human are like automail was. The plastic was grey and did have metal bolts to hold the arm together and had aluminum layer encasing the outside, which didn't register as metal in this world, or at least didn't set off those alarms for those who travel. The machine had four major joints other than those in the hand. The shoulder was pretty much built to act as a ball and socket joint does. Then two thirds of the way down the upper arm section, there was a rotation joint that allowed me to twist the rest of my arm in a circular arc. The elbow work exactly like the real deal would with a person's arm, so that wasn't very different than what my automail had. The final joint before the hand part, was halfway in between the elbow and the hand, and like the upper arm rotating joint could spin my left hand around.

The hand section of this mechanical arm, was the closest attempt of making a machine that can replace a hand that has been lost. I'm not say that Cadence isn't outright amazing at the designing that she does in automail, but even she hasn't gotten this close yet! The biggest difference came with the fine motor control, I've not experienced this good of fine motor control since I had lost my left arm, it was that good! The other odd thing, was the skin like material that covered the fingers, I believe the man that had built this arm for me call the stuff 'silicon'. The material was amazing stuff, unlike alloy I've seen or worked with in my research in alchemy.

My right leg was also not automail, but a slightly denser plastic than my left arm is made up of. It was molded in the shape of a human leg much like my left arm is shaped as a human arm. There were two major joints in this leg, other than those in the foot; those being at the knee and the other at the ankle. The lower part of the upper leg as this artificial limb connects at my mid-thigh, to the same port that I have for my automail. On the outer casing of the mechanical pieces, there are two-inch-wide black bands with one intersecting band in front. The knee joint was similar to an enclosed 'U-joint' and so had a very nice range of movement and had the shape of a V with a bit of space for joint movement. The ankle had very much the same type of joint and shape as the knee and so felt right to have the movement that it does. The foot… Well, my automail could beat it in full range of movement, but I didn't lose as much as I was led to believe. It pretty much had one joint in the middle for the walking motion. There were no toes in this foot, no, it was one molded piece for the front and one for the back.

I was looking over my limbs to see if they needed some tuning up… Learned that keeping up on this prevents problems later. However, my head snapped up at hearing a scream from outside of the dorm. Was up from the chair next moment, within a little over a minute had my clothes back on along with my artificial limbs, put on my belt with Mythril rods and my chemical mixture vials I still have from traveling days and shot out the door. Raced down the hallway, not worrying about the other inhabitance of the dorm, and burst out of one of the side doors of the building. I was heading towards the front of the building, but I came to a sliding halt when someone appeared in my path.

Quickly took in the characteristic of the one in my path and was somewhat surprised and kind of confused at what I saw. In front of me was a 'girl', clearly shown by her chest, waist and hips; which makes me believe she's a second year middle schooler if I were to guess. Her height was shorter than mine, but only by around six centimeters putting it at around 174 centimeters. Even with the light from the full moon that was hanging in the sky, it took a moment to see the long hip length green hair this girl had. Along with framing her blue eyes that somehow… seemed to be glowing a bit, but it could've been a trick of the light. She was wearing, of all things she could be, a uniform that was for a house worker or as it's called here, a maid.

My right hand shifted down to grab one of my Mythril rods, still focusing on this young woman. "You're out rather late young lady, what's the occasion Miss?" I asked casually.

The girl tilted her head to the side slightly, which revealed some kind of 'fins' on either side of her head… can't even begin to guess what fashion or purpose they serve. "Who might you be, I have not seen you around her before." She inquired.

I inclined my head in greeting, "I'm Matthew Selvess, a new teacher here at Mahora Academy and now, the dorm manager for this particular dorm. And your name would be Miss?" I introduced myself to her, also asking her for her name.

The girl in front of me bowed, "My name is Chachamaru Karakuri Professor Selvess," she returned.

Suddenly, the teen rushed forward, I managed to move in time to evade the strike that came in the form of a chop with the girl's right arm. Somethings became clear in that one attack, this female teen wasn't normal, made plain by the speed and strength of her attack, which had gone through a lamppost without stopping and cleanly! It felt similar to the times that I went against some of the original sin named homunculi, and those skirmishes had really put me to a wall. That first attack wasn't the only one to come, but the teen paused and stared at me, "Unexpected, yet fascinating; for you to be able to avoid my swing Professor." She said in an interested tone.

Just after the green haired teen had said the line, her left leg swung up at me. My reflexes were still as sharply responsive as ever, so I leaned back and watched as the leg went past me. I countered by kicking this girl with my right leg, which she dodged, but I used the time I gained from my action to change the current standing. I still had a mythril rod in my right hand and so when I brought my hands together, I transmuted the rod into a straight bladed sword which I held in my right hand. Miss Karakuri was coming at me again, however, I was ready for it this time, swung my blade upward, forcing her to move out of the way. The teen stood and brought up her left hand and a thin blade shot out… much like the Mini Midget or I used to transmute our automail arm's top layer into a blade.

Well, Miss Chachamaru, didn't waste time, but rushed forward and engaged me in a sword battle and from my point of view, she wasn't half bad at all! Our fight didn't last all that long, as the sound of Negi's voice shouting and another more feminine voice replying was heard.

Miss Krarkuri and I broke up of standoff, and ran in the same direction, which was the front of the dorm building itself. The second I turned the corner to the front side of the dorm and took in the circumstances that were going down. Negi was standing over one of the girls from his class and the girl… Miss Konoe, was leaning up against the steps by the entrance to the dorm. My young friend had his wooden staff in his hands and it was pointed at… what appeared to be a young woman. The woman looked to be 150 cm in height, with blue eyes. Her figure was a tad fuller than average and was wearing tattered clothing, that would fit for a character in a fantasy novel. She had long blonde hair, along with an air of arrogance. Said female was somehow floating in the air, can't say how though.

It was plain and obvious to me that this girl, whoever she was threatening Negi, and I won't just stand by and watch. Chachamaru rush forward towards Negi and the woman, I wasn't far behind her. As I was running towards Negi, I looked around for the means that I could reach this 'woman' that was attacking my young friend, as she was in the air. My sight caught onto a bench, moved in a line that had objects that got higher and the street light would put me at a level that I could reach this troublemaker. Stored my sword which had been in my right hand, into the loop on the belt that laid on my right hip. Then I broke into a sprint, jumped onto the bench, ran along it and leapt up and caught a tree branch. Swung on the tree branch, used the momentum of that swing to fly up to the street lamp and latched onto the pole. Once on the pole, I scrambled up to the top of it and balanced on the top of the lamppost. Just when I got to the top, the lady shot of a spell in Negi's direction, I watched as the black element was about to hit the kid. Negi, being the smart kid that he is, dodged the spell and had the energy loop around him and slingshot right back at the flying lady.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chachamaru leap up from below and… had rockets ignite that were in her back allowing her to fly upward! Okay, since when can teenaged girls do things like that?! Well, the green haired girl took the spell that Negi returned to sender, hard in her back, which left her clothes torn and did what appeared to be damage of some sort to the girl herself. The older looking woman caught Chachamaru before she fell, then she glared at Negi, "Well, you really are his son… such shocking powers and yet only ten years old, truly the child of Thousand Master." She stated.

… Ah, this woman knows Nagi… that explains quite a bit, the man has a knack of pissing some off without much effort. Nagi's sense of humor has always been a dangerous thing in my view… funny true, but dangerous with certain kinds of people. Probably did something that ticked her off in some way… such a bad habit Nagi has of doing so to some he came across. Nagi Springfield, Negi's dad, is seen as a powerful and great wizard, but honestly, I say he's downright lucky and crosses lines blatantly and idiotically, can somehow get out of facing the consequences seven times out of ten, seen the idea in motion. The man isn't a bad person… per say, yet he's definitely someone that you have to take time to adjust to being around. Negi is much better behavior than his father, vast improvement if you ask me.

I focused on my target, bent down and then, leapt as high as I could, drawing my sword as I went upward. The woman caught sight of me just before I brought my sword down, and so she managed to dodge my swing. I landed on the ground with my right leg first as the prosthetic limb would take the impact better than my own leg would. The blonde woman glared at me, before she flew off to wherever she went. I stood up and closed the rest of the distance separating Negi and I, transmuting my sword back to a rod as I went and placed a comforting hand on Negi's shoulder. Negi turned to me and smiled in gratitude at seeing me there.

"Wow, that scared me to death." Said Chamomile.

"You're not the only one, that this event took by surprise ya white rat. Honestly, Negi's lucky he didn't have an aud-i-ence… oh crap!" I muttered turning around to look behind Negi… to see Asuna Kagurazaka.

"Oh well, that is a relief." Replied Negi, clearly not hearing what I had muttered.

I cleared my throat and squeezed Negi's shoulder lightly. When both Negi and the white rat glanced over at me, I gestured for them to turn around and they did so, freezing to the spot where they stood on. Miss Kagurazaka gained a creepy smile as she stared at the three of us, "I totally saw everything…" Negi and Chamomile's faces faulted while the girl continued, "Negi the wizard."

Negi began to panic, which didn't help the current predicament. We just need to convince this teenager to wave this off as a trick or something from her imagination and we'll be fine. Have gotten people to wave off much weirder things than this before now, so it shouldn't be that hard of a thing to do. I was trying to come up with a viable way to get this orange haired middle schooler to ignore and not believe what she saw… when things went over a preverbal cliff! "Oh dude, this blows!" exclaimed the dirty white rat.

… Did I not say that Chamomile would screw Negi and me over?! And might I point out, do so along with his own sorry a**, gosh dang it! "No way! Your little rat spoke!" Miss Kagurazaka cried in surprise.

"I'm not a rat you idiot, I'm an ermine!" Chamomile shot back.

My left arm shot out and grabbed the white rat and I brought him to be in front of my face, "Would you shut your freaking pie hole ya dirty white rat! You've screwed us enough already, so stop doing so further!" I growled at the one I knew would cause Negi trouble.

Kagurazaka didn't appear to hear what I growled at Camomile, "It's kind of impressive that you have such wicked magical skills that you can give your rat the ability to talk." Said this girl in front of us.

Chamomile, twisted around in the grip I had on him to face orange hair, "Hey you with the face! I've always been able to talk and for the second time, I'm not some stinking alley rat! I'm an ermine, an ermine (Gah)!" I silenced the loud mouth by squeezing him in a vice grip in my left hand.

"Enough you dumb idiot, you're only making things worse!" I hissed to Chamomile.

Negi pointed his staff at the newly found liability we had, Asuna Kagurazaka just stared at the thing with confusion. "Hmm, what are you doing?" she questioned.

"No one is supposed to see me practice magic." Stated Negi. "Asuna, I'm sorry, but I need to erase your memory and make you forget what you saw."

Asuna looked worried, "You're kidding, right?"

Negi shook his head, "No, I'm not." He replied.

Alarms were going off in my head at the developing situation… worry accompanied those alarms. Granted, Negi is good at manipulating elements… at least when it comes to wind, he isn't bad with the others… but, he ain't a master at them. If memory serves me correctly and it usually does, having been around wizards like I have, then memory modification is a spell based in the water element and is an upper mid-tier spell. Negi doesn't do well with water and so, is more than likely not going to be able to successfully do the mid-tier spells just yet. Now, normally, I'm a promoter of attempting things and either making mistakes or even failing spectacularly. Some of the best lessons learned come from instances that failure or mistakes occur, however… I feel in this particular case, Negi shouldn't do this.

You see, the times I have watched wizards, either using a spell with a different element than it's intended to work with or doing something that so blatantly incorrect against the way it happens without thinking about the results… ISN'T a good idea. Wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just stand by and watch. I tapped Negi on the shoulder with my right hand, to warn the boy about the potential mistake he was about to make, "Um Negi, isn't a memory spell meant to be done with the water element? You're no expert with that element at this point… you sure this is such a good idea for you to do this? Couldn't we just explain our predicament, would work out better for all in the end I think…" I asked warily.

"Don't worry Matthew, I'll just use wind magic and it will work." Replied Negi with confidence.

I shook my head, "Negi, I've observed this particular type of mistake that you're about to make done by other wizards and other kinds of people. And trust me, it doesn't work out the way you think it will. This is going to blow up in your face Negi if you go through with this. Please listen to me and try it my way…"

Negi didn't listen to me, just went forward and cast the spell. The effect… Well, it didn't blow up in his face… Yet, don't doubt it will soon. But, it was obvious that Negi's spell didn't do the intend memory modification… it did erase… Something. I turned away to be polite as Negi had just erased Miss Kagurazaka's… Um, underwear. Out of good manners, I took off my silver overcoat and held it out to the female teen, "Here, you can use this to make sure that your skirt won't flip up and… well, it will help and let's leave it at that." I said.

Felt my overcoat yanked from my hand, and when I turned and saw that Miss Asuna had wrapped the coat around herself. She muttered thanks to me, even though she didn't do so while facing me. "Now perhaps, we can try to settle this the way I suggested, through talking." I suggested, to which both agreed.

The three of us, walked a ways to a park with a playground, I didn't include the white rat in our group as I saw no reason to do so. For the next half an hour, Negi laid out our situation, I added bit here and there, to explain to Asuna Kagurazaka. Believed that we had her convinced to keep that Negi is a wizard a secret… what I can do wasn't mentioned and I preferred it that way. Everything was going wonderfully, that's until a certain filthy white rat decided to put in his two-cents, "Hey bro, how about you make a contract with this chick?" Said Chamomile.

Negi cringed at the suggestion, I was torn between annoyance and frustration, both with Chamomile. Then the white rat, since apparently he hadn't made himself look lowly and bad enough, he began to explain how a contract was made. With his tack, or rather the lack thereof, he barreled on without the thought that his audience was a nine-year-old and a fourteen to fifteen-year-old. Neither of which, by their growing blush, have real experience with romance or a semi-serious relationship. The contract that Chamomile was explaining, though probationary so that it's a trail-run to see how the wizard-partner relationship can work. However, to initiate said contract, the pair are required to kiss… which at Negi's and Asuna's ages, isn't an easy thing. I think it's a load of trouble that can or won't be worth it, depends who are involved and how they work together.

As Negi and Asuna were saying how they couldn't do the contract, I turned to the rat and gave him a stern glare, "You're such an idiot Chamomile, you're talking to a nine-year-old, a smart one yes, but still a kid emotionally. And the other, is a fourteen to fifteen-year-old, who clearly hasn't had a relationship with a boy, since she can't talk properly with Takamichi who she has an obvious crush on." I said to the rat, then I turned to the other two, "Listen Negi, Asuna, don't listen to the dirty white rat. He tends to stick his nose where it doesn't belong, best to ignore him."

We all went to the dorm, Negi and Asuna went to their room, the girl wasn't very please upon learning that Negi would be staying in her and Konoka. I returned to my room and got myself ready for bed as tomorrow would likely be a full busy day.

Chapter end

 **A/n**

 **And that's where I'll leave chapter 1. Yes, Negi is a kid as the series would have him, compared to Matthew appearing in his early twenties. I'll explain later why Matthew is like that, but as stated, 'Truth' is responsible for it to a major degree. Please take the time and write a review about what you think about this idea I've written down.**


	2. Settling In?

Negima Cross ch 2

 **A/n**

 **Here is the second chapter of this cross over story. I also wish to correct a minor mistake I made in the earlier chapter, I decided to make the class that Negi teaches '3-A' and not '2-A' as the anime suggests. The manga goes with 3-A and I like that a bit better, so as the author, I make that executive decision. I'll change that later in the first chapter. And without further talk from me, on with the story!**

Chapter 2: Settling in?

Woke the next morning, at what I would consider a decent hour of the morning, a little after seven, stretched to get the remanence of sleep to leave me. Next, got out of bed and made my way to the desk and attached my prosthetics, which didn't hurt anywhere as bad as automail being slotted in. After I inserted the connectors into the ports, I then tested them to make sure they responded correctly, can't have some of my limbs not doing their jobs. Once my artificial limbs were on, I dressed in slacks and a crisp white shirt… Maria's habits of making sure I dressed nicely and looked presentable still is strong even with her not here.

Anyways, had a white dress shirt and even put on a loose fitting tie and headed to the kitchen to make myself breakfast. While eating, I opened the pre-algebra class roster, to get a look at who was in my class. Seeing the faces of 'my student' I stopped eating and heavily exhaled… as I had seen before, I would be teaching the same group of girls that Negi teaches. The thirty-one pictures on the roster just seem to bring the point of being unable to get much of a break from these girls' home. The reason that will be the case, not only will I be their teacher in the morning but also, off of school hours I will be the manager of their dorm.

I wasn't against teaching the lot as I have nothing against any of the girls personally. It's just ironic that Negi and I teach them, along with 'babysitting' them now too. Shook my head, resumed eating breakfast and moved on to looking over the second class roster that I had. Since middle school pre-algebra isn't the only subject that I teach here at Mahora, I have two rosters. The second roster was for the class of high school chemistry, a very easy subject for me, since I've made up mixtures that others have only dreamed of making and the subject is quite literally an area of Alchemy. The thing I noticed, Mahora academy required uniforms, but they were different for each level of education. The high school girls, wore black dresses, rather than the red blazers and skirts that the middle schoolers I had for math.

My ears caught the sounds of many feet pounding down the halls of the dorms, glanced over at the clock and saw that classes for Mahora academy would start in the next half an hour. Sped up the shoveling of my morning meal, grabbed my materials for the day and rushed out the door. True, my first class isn't for an hour after homeroom starts, but I still would like time to prepare my classroom. So, as I jogged towards the school, I spotted Miss Konoe and another girl, not Asuna, but a black haired girl that was carrying a wooden Japanese sword. The girl had a height of about 151 centimeter or so. She was clearly developing into a young woman, but was still in puberty and wasn't finished. Her build said she kept fit by practicing some form of sport or art, and if the sword was any clue, I would say swordsmanship. I quickly closed the distance between the two and myself, "Good morning you two," I greeted.

Both Miss Konoe and the other girl turned to look at me, "Oh, Professor Selvess, good morning," returned Miss Konoe.

I glanced at the other girl, hoping for a name, noting her eyes were a dark brown, "Setsuna Sakurazaki, Professor Selvess," she introduced herself.

Nodding in her direction, before I focused back on the journey we were on, "Starting off for school a tad late, are you not? Homeroom is in fifteen minutes, there a reason that you've set out this late, girls? Neither of you seem like you are normally late to things, or am I wrong?" I asked nicely.

Miss Konoe frowned, "Well, my roommate, Asuna Kagurazaka wouldn't get up and out of bed, that's why we're heading out so late sir." She answered.

Was taken aback at being addressed so formally, and hearing the name of the girl that was a risk for Negi. The orange haired girl had discovered that Negi is a wizard last night, "Okay, first no need to address me as 'sir', not one who is interested in formality, either Professor Selvess or Mr. Selvess will be fine. Second, did you get Miss Kagurazaka to vacate her bed, or is she still there as we speak?" I inquired.

Yet, it was from Miss Sakurazaki that I got my reply, "Asuna is still in her bed, there was no more time to spare without making Ojou-sama late herself." She said.

The term that Setsuna referred to Konoka was one that I was unfamiliar with and so, I filed it away in my mind for later research. Then as I took in the answer that I was given, I skid to a stop, "She's still in bed, when school will be starting soon?" I question in a flat voice.

Both girls had stopped when I had, they nodded to me, I waved them to keep going, "You two get to your homeroom, if Negi asks where Asuna Kagurazaka is, tell him she'll be there shortly." I told them, before turning around and heading back to the dorm.

The advantage to being the dorm manager, I can do things that other wouldn't without facing serious consequences, that includes entering one of the tenant's rooms and getting them out of their bed, in whatever way I wish. I will not allow a student skip class to whatever they please, not while I'm a teacher here and know they're skipping class! Burst through the front door of the dorm and ran down the hall to end out standing before the door to the room that Negi happened to be staying in. Wasn't inclined to be nice, and just kicked open the door, without any worry about being accused of intruding, stepping in looking around. Spotted the orange haired girl, as I had been informed, in the bunkbed, the top bunk specifically, sleeping when she should be getting to school. I came to the middle of the room and put my hands on my hips, "Asuna Kagurazaka, you have ten seconds to get yourself out of bed, before I take the bed out from under you." I stated clearly at a volume that she would hear.

My reply, "Give me thirty more…" mumbled Asuna, saying she wasn't really awake.

As I stated, I gave Asuna ten seconds and counted out such, then I clapped my hands together and touched them to the two front bunkbed posts. The effects of my alchemy was immediate, the two metal frame pieces that held the back posts to the bunks shifted into hinges leaving space for the hinges to swing down. Then there was a crack and sections of the two front posts slid out as, the top bunk tipped forward, still held to the back posts by the 'hinges'. The bed rail fell to pieces and Asuna came rolling out of the bed and fell to the floor below. She moaned before raising her head to look at me, I was giving her a deadpanned expression, "Are you awake Asuna Kagurazaka? For you can't retreat to your bed as it'll just dump you to the floor again with the angle that it is at now." I said a little coldly.

Asuna looked back at the former bunkbed, then back to me, her eyes widening as she swung her head back to face me, "No way! You're a wizard too like the kid?!" She cried.

Shook my head, "I'm no wizard, I'm what is known as an Alchemist, and there is a huge difference between what Negi can do and what I do. But for you, I'm a professor at the academy and so, I'm responsible for making sure students are present in class. Now then missy, you have the next few minutes to get dress and presentable for school and then I will be escorting you there." I stated as fact, so she didn't argue with me.

Asuna did as I said, and we headed to school, got the girl to her homeroom just as Negi was starting attendance. After that, I headed to my own classroom and prepared for the math class that would come after the current homeroom period ends.

 **-Scene Change-**

I finished preparing the classroom I had been assigned to use for teaching the pre-algebra class for second year middle school. Not a neat freak as it's referred to as here, or the cleanest person, but I'm still fairly organized. This would not be the first time I have 'taught' others, yet it has been a bit of time and the last time I taught, it was not teenagers. Not that I have anything personally against the girls in Negi's and my class, with the opportunity I had to look over the roll and do some addition research on the thirty-one girls. There were those that I would need to look into further, but that was an activity for later.

Mahora Academy's middle school Class 3-A, was really a mixed bag of fruit as is said back home. Some of the girls had fairly good grades and past performance said they did what was asked of them by their teachers. There were even a few that were very smart, which to me would be interesting going forward. Then… there was the other girls that were the polar opposites of the rest; the bottom of the barrel and that was being nice. The sad thing, Asuna Kagurazaka was in the third group and apparently had the nick name, 'Baka Red' which was a vailed insult. The final piece to this class, was two students in particular, student number ten Chachamaru Karakuri and student number twenty-six Evangeline A.K. McDowell. Miss Karakuri had been the girl the first night that I had crossed swords with, however, can't get much of a feel from her. The other Miss McDowell, the name alone says she was a foreigner and yet, from what little I've found out about her… alarm bells have been going off in my mind and that's rarely a good sign. Plus, I haven't seen either of the two in class yesterday at all that I can recall.

Began writing on the whiteboard, like my name and just some basic rules that I would have for the class, while still thinking about the difficulties that would come with this class. Was brought out of my thoughts as the sound of the girls of the class I had been contemplating entered the room. I turned to view the various groupings of teens chatting with one another, also spotted Negi bringing up the rear. I cleared my throat, "Okay ladies, if you could please take a seat. There is no set seating chart or arrangement, but I recommend that you sit next to those who you can work with but don't need to chat with during class." I stated as I turned back to finish writing the rules I would have in this class.

The girls did as I asked and took their choice of seats, and after I finished jotting down what I wished, I turned and faced the thirty-one girls. "Good morning ladies, as most of you are by this time aware, my name is Matthew Selvess and I'll be your professor for pre-algebra for this semester. You, can call me, professor Selvess, Mr. Selvess or Matthew, whichever you prefer, don't call me sir or sensei as I won't respond to those. Now, unlike some teachers that you may have, I'm of the opinion, that you should be treated as young adults so long as you act as such. That means, you'll be held to a minimum level of expectation, which you should all be capable of meeting and I believe exceeding." I said to the room at large.

All the girls were listening to me, which I didn't exactly expect after looking into the history of some of them. I kept going in my lecture, "Now, whether you enjoy the subject of math or not, really doesn't matter to me," I stated in an even tone, and I heard gasps from different areas of the room. "You can sleep in my class if you wish, or do something else to keep yourself occupied. But, it is unacceptable for any of you to disrupt this class and prevent others from learning. That is one of my ground rules in this class, if you wish to waste your time, that's up to you, but you shall not make another waste lesson time. However, as this class is required for you to advance to the next grade level, I wouldn't recommend goofing off and not paying attention."

I directed the attention of the class to the board, "Along with that golden rule, there are a couple others that follow. First, when I am talking, none of you should be doing so, should any of you have questions, feel free to raise your hand and I'll call on you. And second, the bell does not signal the end of class, nor dismiss you, that task falls to me. Don't worry your heads about being late, I have a tendency to be very timely. Lastly, not so much a rule, as much as an expectation, the homework you're assigned is to be on my desk by the time class starts, unless I state otherwise. If it is not there, I will consider it late and will dock a percentage from the possible score. For late work, I accept it up to four days late, that includes weekends, any work turned in beyond that without discussing circumstances with me beforehand, will be a zero. So, no complaints from here on, you have a problem come to me after school and talk… and forgetting to do work is not a valid excuse." I finished.

It was clear, that not all the girls were very interested in accepting the rules I laid out for the class. But, that's their problem, not mine as I'm the teacher and think I've been more than fair in my opinion. The first class went fine in my view, I was able to pick out the problem students, since I kind of knew some of the girls to watch.

The rest of the morning passed by at a noticeably quick pace and before I really had time to sit down and relax a bit, lunch had arrived. Negi had been so focused on preparing his lesson for homeroom and his English class, that he didn't make lunch for himself. Thankfully for him, I planned ahead, knowing that Negi would be so focused on preparation that he wouldn't think about almost anything else. Negi thanked me for the food, with tears in his eyes, to which I waved it off and just patted his head.

After lunch, I went to my 'other' classroom, the chemistry lab, a room that I felt at home in and loved. And why should I not feel at home and love the room? This room was much like the basement at the house Maria and I call home with a few minor things missing. But all the glassware and other equipment that is used in making concoctions, brought warmth to my heart. I walked around the room taking in what each set of student equipment set had to work with and was a tad surprised and was satisfied.

The sound of voices came to my ears and I made my way to the front of the lab and seconds later, the door opened and girls began to enter the room. From what I saw, they ranged in age 17 to 18, so older than those in class 3-A, but then these girls were in high school. Most looked bored and not very interested in being here, yet when I made my voice heard, "Hello ladies, if you could divide yourselves to have three per table, we can begin class."

At the sound of my voice, all the girls stopped and stared… or rather gaped at me ranging from surprise to shock. A long straight brown haired girls was the one to speak first, "Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked.

My right eyebrow rose, "My name is Matthew Selvess, I'm your chemistry professor for this semester, since Mr. Togwa took a leave of absences for this semester." I answered curtly.

Next thing I knew, the thirty girls, who were my students, surrounded me with a very excited air about them. Apparently, they much more preferred that I was their teacher than the previous one they had last semester. It took me a few minutes to get them to calm down, but once I had, the girls took their seats and paid attention to me. "Now then ladies, before we start into the subject of chemistry, there are a few ground rules to be stated. With the time of life that you all are in, you are young adults, and as long as you act as such, I will treat you as young adults. Please keep that in mind going forward girls. For the golden rule in this classroom, while class is in session, do not disrupt your peers." I iterated.

Paused and took a breath, "Whether you enjoy the subject of Chemistry or not, really doesn't make a difference in the long run for me," I stated in an even tone. "You may do what you want to keep yourself occupied. But, it's unacceptable for any of you to disrupt this class and prevent others from learning. This is my main ground rule, if you wish to waste your time, that's up to you, but you shall not make another waste lesson time." I lectured.

Scanned around and saw that oddly, all the girls were still paying focused attention on me "Along with that golden rule, there are a couple others come with it. First, when I am talking or lecturing, none of you should be talking or whispering. Should any of you have questions about what I'm saying, feel free to raise your hand and I'll call on you. Second, the bell does not signal the end of class, nor does it dismiss you, that falls to me. So that you know, I've a tendency to be on time. Finally, not as much a rule, more an expectation, homework that I assign, is to be on my desk by the time class starts the following day, unless I state otherwise. If it is not there, I will consider it late and will dock a percentage from the possible score. When it comes to late work, I accepted it up to four days after it was due, that includes weekends. Any work turned in beyond that without discussing circumstances with me beforehand, will be a zero. So, no complaints from here on, you have a problem come to me after school and talk… and forgetting to do work is not a valid excuse." I summed up.

All the girls were nodding in understanding; I still get the feeling that a number of these girls aren't paying attention to me because I'm just their teacher. Well aware, my looks are handsome and that's playing a part to the interest some of these high school girls have with me. Don't know how this will play out, guess I'll have to just wait and see.

 **-Scene change-**

Negi and I were walking, discussing how classes had gone today. I believe Negi was coming into the position of being a teacher, at least he was sounding like he was enjoying the job so far. Mentioned a few things about the differences between the middle schoolers I teach math and those high school students that I teach chemistry to in the afternoon.

Negi was about to give me his answer, when both of our attention were shifted to a girl carrying books down the stairway that came down to the fountain Negi and I were sitting by. The girl was 153 cm in height and she was somewhat petit. She had shoulder length violet hair, however, the rest of her face wasn't visible as the stack of books that she was carrying were in front of her face. I believe… this girl is one of Negi's students, which would make her one of mine as well as I teach pre-algebra to Class 2A, which Negi is the homeroom teacher for. I took out my roll for class 2A, and glanced over it and saw that the girl's name was Nodoka Miyazak. Her picture didn't help with giving me much to judge, her hair covered the top half of her face in the picture and the stack of books blocked her face.

Looking back at Miss Miyazak as she started taking steps down the stairway, but not looking where she was going much. … I'm getting a bad feeling about this scene, it was an accident waiting to happen. Miss Miyazaki was drifting to the right, and within a couple of steps, she tripped and went over the side of the stairway. Without hesitation, I sprinted forward and at the same time, felt a gust of wind coming up from behind me from Negi. The boy used his abilities to manipulate wind to stop the girl from hitting the cement hard, for just enough time for me to rush to where Miss Miyazaki floated, getting my arms under her as the wind weakened. Felt the girl's weight come into my arms and I breathed a sigh of relief. "That was way too close for comfort." I muttered as Negi ran over to where I was.

"Is she okay?!" asked Negi with panic evident.

Felt the girl begin stirring in my arms and, looking down saw she was waking up, I smiled, "Why not ask her yourself Negi." I said.

Nodoka Miyazaki opened her eyes, which were blue, slowly looking around; taking in Negi smiling at her. She glanced up at me and gave me a 'deer in the headlights' expression, and I don't know what to think about it. I lowered the girl to the ground and the second that her feet touched the cement she made distant from me. So… Nodoka Miyazaki is shy… around men perhaps… or has developed a dislike of me? Can't say with the reaction I just received. "Are you alright Nodoka?" asked Negi.

Miss Miyazaki nodded but I noticed that her bangs were covering her face, like they were in the picture on the class roll. Negi and I helped her pick up the books that had fallen with her and once the stack had been rebuilt, Nodoka Miyazaki resumed her journey to the library. Negi was letting out a sigh of relief, yet, I was still feeling that we were being watched and have been for the majority of this event. That gives me a bad feeling, since if someone either sees or finds out about Negi being able to use magic, then he will have consequences to pay. Asuna seeing the idea had come close to screwing Negi, if there were to be a second person… I don't know what would happen then. The boy is too young to have his life come to an end and Negi has such potential that would go to waste if he is turned into an animal.

 **-Scene Change-**

Evening came as it always does, and I was doing my duty by making my rounds before curfew come around. I had told Negi not to overwork himself, before beginning my job of dorm manager, don't think he'll listen to me, but I try. As far as I've seen this evening, the girls that live in this dorm were already in for the night. So, me doing rounds was more me doing my due diligence so that I couldn't be blamed if something went amiss under my watch.

Rounded one of the front corner of the dorm building, and bumped into something or someone. Whatever I hit fell to the ground as did I, and after I regained my bearings I looked up to see what I had hit. Found myself looking at the female teen from last night that I had fought… Chachamaru I think she said her name had been. Yet, as I looked at her, my brain connected her to the picture and name I had seen on my class roster. This girl was one in the same, she was one of the two I hadn't seen in either class, that Negi and I had her as a student for.

I got to my feet and then offered a hand to help Chachamaru up, which she took and rose to her feet. When she looked at me, her eyes showed recognition, "Ah, professor Selvess, my apologies for bumping into you." She said as she bowed to me.

Her movements… kind of appeared mechanical to an extent, but then she proved that she had strength that human beings don't possess even with lots of work. I shook my head, "It's fine my Karakuri. However, I do have a question for you, where were you this morning when you should have been in class?" I posed.

"I was with Master, she did not have an interest in attending class today." Chachamaru replied.

Master? Who would that be and what influence do they have to tell this teen not to go to school? I kept my gaze on Miss Karakuri, "Who might this master of yours be?" I inquired flatly.

"Her name is Evangeline A.K. McDowell professor." She answered.

The other student that had been playing hooky… what might be the connection between these two? For one to call the other 'Master' can mean many different things, so I can't say what the relationship is with the two. I crossed my arms, "And where might Miss McDowell and you live, Miss Karakuri?" I asked.

Chachamaru, without hesitation told me about the small cabin like house that they both lived in. I sighed after she told me the information, "Well, as the day has come to an end, there's not much that can be done. However, both you and Miss McDowell will begin to attend class on a regular basis, am I clear?" I stated.

The green haired teen nodded, "Professor, it would be preferred if you called me Chachamaru." She said.

I nodded slowly, "If that's what you wish Chachamaru, also, inform Miss McDowell, that should she not start showing up to class in the next couple of days, then I will pay a personal visit and she won't be liking the visitation." I said flatly and emotionlessly.

Chachamaru bowed, "Understood Matthew… or do you prefer to be called professor Selvess?" she questioned.

Shook my head, "No, Matthew is just fine, never had been one for formalities," I returned.

 **-Scene Change-**

The first week here at Mahora had been okay, all things considered, could have been worse, but also could have been better. At least Negi hadn't been 'caught' using his magic in plain sight, if such news had make its way back to the 'wizard's council' who make the decision on whether a wizard gets to keep their 'license' to use magic or they become an animal, Negi would've been doomed. As the phrase goes, 'you're okay if you don't get caught' though I would add, don't do things that make you look like a criminal, without VERY good reason.

Granted, there was that blonde woman the first night here, which had attacked Negi, but my young friend had fended her off in a way to be proud of. The mention of Nagi Springfield, the 'Thousand Master' as others call him, makes me wonder if the woman had met Nagi or if she was using his fame as an excuse. Won't deny that Nagi is good at element manipulation, but what most don't know or believe, would be that Nagi never finished school, he dropped out. You see Nagi, as good a wizard as he is, has a quirk that can REALLY put off others, that being his sense of humor. Nagi's sense of humor… well, either you accept that's how he is, or it gets taken as an insult. Then, there are certain people that Nagi has learned, it's in his best interest should he wish to keep living, it would be best for him not to 'prank' or use in his humor.

I'm one of those people… Nagi tried to scare me only once… he found out just how quickly I can react to what someone does. Let's just say that he hadn't been laughing long, once he realized he had multiple sharp points and edges set to do horrible injuries should he move. To say I still have the reaction speed and time I did going against the homunculi, would be accurate. Apparently, by what I understand, something similar happened with his 'wife', though she didn't threaten him… per say, I believe she made sure that Nagi himself, understood how unwise it would be to involve her in his humor. Yes, I've met the woman that gave birth to Negi, even if my young friend hasn't met his own mother. Her name is Arika… her complete name is long as she is from a rather distinguished family or bloodline or something like that.

However, back to more current events, as I said, Negi hadn't been seen using his skill in plain sight… by an audience, yet there had been an incident… or a few. The first to have learned that Negi was a wizard had been Asuna, and that had taken a good deal of convincing to get her to say nothing. The second… had been a student Negi and I share, by the name of Zazie Rainyday. That teenager had been… different, very unexpected from my view.

 _-Flashback-_

Once Negi and I made sure that Nodoka Miyazaki was okay, she headed to the library as she said to the two of us. Negi went with her, to 'escort' the teenager to her destination… really, Negi is a good kid, better than many adults I've met, his father being one of them. After watching the two leave, I turned and headed towards the dorm as classes were over for the day, however, I didn't get far before I was brought to a halt by a voice speaking, "That was a very impressive trick professor Negi and you pulled professor Selvess," said a female voice that held little emotion and had a serious monotone along with the sound of clapping.

I spun to the left to face the source of the voice, and found myself looking at a fifteen-year-old girl. She stood at what I would estimate to be around 151 centimeters in height. Her skin was a darker tan shade. She had eyes were a hazel brown, while her near shoulder length hair was white. Although, she also had two lengths of hair that went beyond her shoulders in the front and went a couple inches down below them on either side of her face. Speaking of her face, on the right side was a red-brown line that started at her bangs and went down to the level of her mouth. On the left side was a blue tear drop shaped mark under her eye… both marks brought to mind some of the street performers I've come across. She had a feminine figure developing, estimated sizes 76 to 78 cm bust line, 50 to 52 cm waist and around a 75 cm at her hips.

The issue that was now presented, by what she said, she had seen Negi manipulating air and that was BAD for Negi. I believe the girl was a student of Negi's and mine, which doesn't help the situation. "Trick you say? Well, why not start with your name young lady." I said.

Her face remained expressionless as she gave her greeting, "Hello, my name is Zazie Rainyday professor."

… This girl is quite something else, I'll give her that. She then continued, "So then professor Selvess, could you tell me how the trick was done?"

Was trying to think of how to explain to the girl what happened with Nodoka without revealing that Negi is a wizard. I took a deep breath, "Well, Miss Rainyday, first I would ask you to not talk about what you saw. Second that trick was complicated, what Negi did, he practiced for good amount of time, and I'll leave it at that for now." I answered.

She stared at me, "You can call me Zazie rather than Miss Rainyday," she stated to me.

 _-End Flashback-_

Still don't know what to think about Zazie Rainyday, a very different teenager, that's for sure. As this is the first weekend, a well-earned break is in order. Negi was spending time working on learning the Japanese language, but I managed to convince him to come with me to town this afternoon for a break from him focusing completely on his teaching job.

For this morning on the first Saturday of being in Japan with Negi, I decided to take a walk and get some fresh air. I did make sure I had the belt and thigh holster that I would wear during my travels with Maria, mostly out of habit. That holster held a couple of my custom made Mythril rods, my belt held a few more rods and some mixtures that can become volatile when exposed to air and have different effects. You never know what could happen… especially with me, since I attract trouble.

Unfortunately, it was on my walk that my attraction for trouble was proven to still be alive and healthy. This came in the form of small creatures that definitely weren't pets or normal for that matter. There were nine of the small things, they had the body shape of a child and had a height of almost three feet. Their eyes had milky blueish color where the whites of human eyes and their pupils were a range of colors. The ears they had were large and pointed, growing outward from their heads. On the hands and feet of these things were claws or talons… and oh, they had tails and bat like wings. All of them were dressed in rags or tattered clothes. If I recall right, these creatures are known as 'Imps', who are supposed to be devious and mischievous. I sighed, "I guess that you lot are not here to make nice," I questioned the creatures.

The one in the lead pointed at me and screeched an order that I think was to attack me, so that's the way I took it. As I gazed at the imps coming at me, I grabbed one of my Mythril rods, one that specially had segmented sections and used Alchemy to change the rod into a three-foot blade that, like the rod had segmented sections that made up the blade itself. I brought my blade to be in line with my right arm, pointing behind me slightly and towards the ground as I shifted into a hunching crouch so that I could be ready to spring.

Didn't wait long, since the imps had shot forward at the screech of the lead one, all of them aiming for me. Now, this was by no means the first time that I've come under attack, after all, having served in the Amestris State Military. During that time, learned very quick, that there are people that will try to kill you for what seems like a really stupid or ridiculous reason to all but the attacker themselves. As the first imp was about to reach me, I spun around counter-clockwise, using the circular momentum to build up the force behind the blade. Brought my blade up in a diagonal slice and gave the imp lunging at me a gash on its front as well as taking off a piece of its left ear.

Kept spinning and shoved the hilt into the face of a second imp, clotheslining the small creature and it went careening to the ground past me. However, as I kicked the third imp with my right leg, I noticed the other six imps were coming at the same time from different directions to attack me. Was about to dodge and change my position to make this fight more manageable, when an audible crack was heard and one of the imps appeared to be shot by something. That served as a distraction long enough for me to so swing my blade, snap my fingers on my right hand, activating my alchemy. My blade's sections separated and were kept together by mythril wire think strands, making my blade more like a whip than a sword. I swung around my segmented blade and swept it in front of me, causing the imps to brake of their attack as the sharped edged segments slashed across them. Two more cracks sounded and that was enough for the imps, since they hightailed it away from me.

I snapped my fingers of my right hand and my segmented blade glowed silver and went back to being a three-foot blade. That was before I transmuted the blade back to a rod and returned it to the holster it had been in, then I began scanning around to locate the person that had assisted me. Spotted a young teenager coming my way, with a long range rifle in her grip and had a fairly decent scope if my eyes aren't deceiving me. The teen herself, had a height of approximately 184 centimeters. Her hair was black, long… went beyond her hips in the back and the two braids, one on either side of her face went to her upper torso. The girl's skin was a darker tan shade, her eyes were a light brown hazel… and her eyes gave off a… different feel. I can't place what the feeling is exactly, but, it felt a little like another woman I've been around… she had been SCARY! If not for the thing Maria and I had learned from her, wouldn't have been worth being around that woman… weird thing, her husband, bear of a man that he is, one of the nicer guys you could meet.

Anyway, back to the girl approaching me, her three sizes were to my best estimate, 87 to 89 cm for her bust, around 67 to 70 cm at her waist and like her bust 87 to 90 cm at her hips. She was wearing the Mahora middle school level uniform… and I'm fairly sure that I've seen her face, but unfortunately, I'm horrid at matching names to faces still. She's definitely one of Negi's and my students, yet I'm still learning their names and which face goes to which name. The teen stopped in front of me, "Have to admit Professor Selvess, did not expect you to be so good in a fight, let alone able to use unusual skills and powers." She stated to me.

I nodded, "Uh thanks… I think, you'll have to forgive me, I'm horrible with matching names to faces, know you're one of my students as well as Negi's, but your name escapes me… sorry Miss…" I said apologetically, leaving the statement open for her to supply her name.

The girl bowed to me, "My name is Tatsumiya Mana, professor Selvess." She greeted me.

… I'm still getting used to how Japanese put the last name first and the first name second, it's kind of odd to me, though in Xing, the people do much the same thing. "Okay then Miss Tatsumiya, what might you be doing out on the weekend, with a rifle no less?" I asked, half out of curiosity, half out of responsibility I have as one of the teachers here at the academy.

Mana Tatsumiya began to explain to me, the job that Dean Konoe had asked her to 'defend' the school, and there was another who had been requested to do the same as Mana herself. For apparently, these imps and 'supernatural' creatures visiting with an invitation wasn't an uncommon occurrence. This school was visited by many different creatures, including demons… and hearing that fact worried me. However, then she asked me a question that threw me for a bit of a loop, "So then professor Selvess, with what you did to fight off those imps, are you a wizard like Professor Negi?" Mana asked.

That inquiry got me to have a double take, for it presented a couple of problematic things. The first issue, Miss Tatsumiya knew that Negi was a wizard, which also meant that she very likely knew about the existence of those who can manipulate the elements. So, either the teen had seen Negi do his art, to which I believe the white rat is pushing him to do… will have to have a talk with him, that Negi will not be attending. The other reason she may know about wizards and witches, is that she's a part of the same world, or has be told about it. The issue that involves me, would be Mana mistaking me for a 'wizard', I'm not one. I am an Alchemist, period, I'm not anything else that can use 'magic', I'm a scientist that practices a precise art and skill that is perfectly explainable. Magic is nothing more than an over glorified word that many use to explain something they see as unexplainable. There is no such thing as magic, there are unusual skills and powers some people have, don't deny that. However, it isn't magic as each ability is explainable. I cleared my throat, "Well, first, I am not a wizard, I'm what's known as an Alchemist. Although, out of curiosity, just how do you know that Negi is a wizard?" I replied.

"The Dean informed me," answered Mana simply, "You say that you're an Alchemist, but to my understanding that alchemy is an area of magic, is that not correct?"

… beginning to question if Dean Konoe is trustworthy. I mean, Negi being a wizard is supposed to be a secret and yet, the old man has told others. Yes, I'm told that the dean is the 'head' of the wizard organization around here and Takamichi Takahata is also a wizard. I looked Mana Tatsumiya in the eyes, "For your information Miss Tatsumiya, what wizards consider alchemy and what I do, are not the same thing in really any way. Alchemy isn't some sort of mystical art; it is a precise science. It has set rules and predictable results, along with consequences to those who ignore the rules or are stupid and done do the preparation right." I lectured as if I was teaching new practitioner of Alchemy.

Mana accepted my explanation of my use of alchemy not being magic, and she even asked me if I would give her some tips as to self-defense. I hadn't a problem doing so, and I agreed to schedule a time to give her some lessons. Headed back towards the dorms after I had finished walking, and it happened to be around lunch time.

So, recounting how the first week of being here at this academy, involving Negi, his tasks and myself, with my tasks. Negi and I were doing okay on the teaching portion of our jobs, that wasn't the issue in this. No, that would be the fact that Negi being a wizard and about to manipulate the elements a secret from everyone around him. And yet… by the end of week one, the secret, by some miracle was still being kept, but a number of risks had come up in the form of individuals witnessing Negi doing his craft! The problem becomes worse because those who knew weren't a single person, no, three confirmed individuals had seen Negi in the act. Although Negi doesn't know about any but the first witness, doesn't change the issue much at all. And then, for them to all be teenage girls… I don't think things could get much riskier.

First there was Asuna Kagurazaka, that girl was quite the teen to stick out, even in her own peers. Yes, Negi and I managed to get her to say that she won't mention anything to anyone else about what Negi can do. I couldn't care less if she says anything about seeing me perform alchemy, no consequences for me. Plus, I would be kind of surprised if any of her peers believed her if she told them what I did. But, by what I've observed thus far, Asuna likes to 'gossip' to a degree and that's what worries me.

Next in the list of 'girls' that know about Negi's secret, would be Zazie Rainyday. That girl… I don't even know how to put what she conveys, she's different than most people I've met. Me saying that, is something else, because I've met really weird people on my travels, some have even tried to kill me as well. Still it was clear that the odd teen had seen Negi saving Nodoka, it was noble of the boy, but still he had been seen doing his art.

Then the third confirmed witness, was Mana Tatsumiya, I wasn't as worried of her spilling the beans about Negi. She seemed more the quiet type and she had helped me, plus, the dean trusts her to defend the school against so call mythical creatures that aren't so mythical. Yet, Mana had also mentioned that there was another doing the same type of job and that person could be also informed about what Negi can do.

All this series of events, occurred within ONE week… I had at least hoped Negi would manage to keep him being a wizard a secret for a month. He may look like his father, but thank goodness Negi didn't inherit his father's personality or more specifically, his sense of humor. I say that for good reason, Nagi wouldn't be able to keep the secret of him being a wizard for a full week, that's a guarantee! Yet… I feel and fear… that this is only the beginning of this, and I'll be the one that has to clean up the mess, I believe. Still get to go into town this afternoon with Negi… hopefully that will go without incident.

Chapter end

 **A/n**

 **That's where I leave off for this chapter. Negi just is good at getting himself into trouble, but that's how he is. I paint Nagi as… a bit of an idiot, yet that's the way I feel that he comes off in both the anime and the manga, so I called it like I feel it. I did research on the characters and measurements as accurate as possible, if I'm wrong, then someone, feel free to correct me. Please take the time to write a review, whether long or short, or simply PM me, tell me what you think. Thank you to you readers, I always enjoy hearing from others who read my musings.**


	3. Expectations

Negima Cross ch 3

 **A/n**

 **And so I finished chapter 3 of this story! This is starting to go away from cannon, though it is still following the general story… loosely at least. Anyway, the normal disclaimer applies in the point that I own nothing of the Negima characters or the world, nor anything from Full Metal Alchemist. I just claim ownership to my own original characters, musings and ideas. Well then, BACK INTO ACTION!**

Chapter 3: Expectations

-Matthew-

Monday rolled around as it always does, and so teaching was to fill much of the day. The weekend had been a nice breather, including taking Negi into town. The kid needed supplies he hadn't planned on while we were in Wales after he received his assignment. I also made sure he got some things to help with organization, which Negi sorely needs. No argument of Negi being an amazing kid with him being only nine almost ten, but my impression is that he wasn't taught all that much of how to be organized. Nekane might have shown Negi some tips for organization, but it wasn't enough for this teaching job and that's before you take into account his thirty-one students who are early teenage females, some already showing an interest in Negi personally.

Unfortunately, Negi has inherited a few of his father's habits, not all of them thank goodness, but enough that it could end out a detriment. Among those, an example would be the mentality that things will work out just fine without a good amount of work for instance. With how Nagi tends to be practical joker mixed with being a bit of an airhead more often than not, it's usually to his detriment by the end. How Nagi's wife was able to stand him, I'll never know or understand. I applaud her in being able to do so though, Nagi can be a real idiot sometimes. Might be the reason that the man doesn't spend as much time around her as he used to, don't have enough information to say.

Anyways, figured that it would behoove me to pop into Negi's homeroom and observe the girls as they seem to act a tad different when they're in my class for whatever reason. Best to get more information on some of them so that I can come up with a better way to handle them. And then, Negi was taking a tad longer getting ready than he previously did last week, so I went on ahead to the classroom after I had breakfast and threw on a grey collared shirt and black pants.

When I stepped into the room, my presence went unnoticed as there were a couple of groups of the girls talking and most likely gossiping. Put forth the effort to listen in on the nearest group and heard them talking about the 'attack' that had happened on the first night of this last weekend by that odd lady who had been floating somehow in the air. Apparently, it wasn't the first incident here at Mahora.

"Our vampire victim count is now up to three," Said one of the older looking girls with light brown hair.

"Sweet, I was telling the truth all along," said a pink haired student.

"We never said that we didn't believe you, it's just that none of us had marks on our necks like you had last week," replied Konoka.

"Now that you mentioned it, this morning, the bite marks were gone when I checked, it was really weird!" Said the pink haired girl.

Can't say what the girl's name is, I'm trying to memorize the names, but I've always been bad with matching names with their corresponding faces. "Whatever, it was probably some sort of bug bite you got and didn't notice until last week. You all probably had the same dream, there are no such things as vampires." Replied the long blonde haired girl that I believe was called Ayaka… don't remember her last name, but the class representative of 3-A.

Oh, how wrong the blonde is and it's not due to her being dumb, more ignorance. On the subject of vampires, I've unfortunately met a few of them since I got to this world. So, I can say that vampires do exist and only one of those I've crossed paths with didn't try to harm me in some way. But, I kept my thoughts to myself and said nothing, just kept listening to the conversation.

"No, it's a chupacabra!" Said none other than Asuna.

Okay… what's a chupacabra? Is it something that actually exists, or is it something that's nothing more than a fairy tale? Next thing I see, a girl with long greenish colored hair with glasses finished scribbling on a page and showed the page to the group, "This is what it looks like!" She said.

It was a drawing of… something I've never seen before… appeared to be more like a crime against nature at close to the same level as homunculi. Even the few chimeras I've seen don't make me feel like I do while looking at the picture. All the girls in the group looked at the picture and then got a range of expressions that stretched from horror and disgust to a weird fascination of the… thing.

"Oh Wow, I feel sorta …" started one of the girls.

"…like I'm gonna hurl." Finished a blue haired student.

"Well… I don't know, it doesn't seem right yet," the pink haired girl that had spoken first when I had begun listening into this conversation.

"Maybe what we have is a chupacabra verses Dracula." Said a girl that was shorter than most in the class.

This was getting ridiculous and fast! "That's utter nonsense ladies," I stated, all the girls in the room went silent and turned to face me, "If such a thing as a chupacabra does exist, the likelihood of it being around here is outright ridiculous. And then this apparent growing obsession with vampires is something that won't be encouraged, for it is unhealthy. Clearly you girls are spending time on distractions rather than on your schoolwork and getting the amount of sleep you need."

"But Professor Selvess, with what happened last weekend…" began one of the girls.

I overrode her, "Is nothing you should be concerning yourselves with ladies. What went on last weekend was nothing more than a clash of unusual circumstances, nothing more. Now, take your seats as class will be starting soon."

Negi came into the room before any of the students could argue further, and when I looked at him, I paused. For my young friend had a sizable lump on the top of his head, that hadn't been there last night. Makes me wonder what happened, did he roll out of bed or something? I'm aware that he sleeps on the top bunk with Asuna, why with her I can't say. Konoka seemed the nicer of the two, but Negi made his choice, maybe Asuna reminds him of someone, who knows? I wasn't the only one to notice the lump on Negi's head, all the girls in the room took in the difference in their teacher's appearance. "Professor Negi, what happened to head?!" Exclaimed Ayaka.

"Oh, it's nothing class representative." Returned Negi.

"Nothing? It looks like you were attack Professor. You were attacked weren't you? Just tell me who it was and I'll make sure they're expelled immediately! I cannot allow such disrespect!" Answered Ayaka.

Felt a sigh come out of me, "Miss Ayaka, allow me to remind you, that the decision of whether a student or any of the faculty face expulsion or something of the like, isn't up to you. That choice and decision lies with the Dean and the Dean alone, not you. Do please keep that fact in mind should you have a complaint to lodge against another." I stated clearly so that it wouldn't be taken wrong.

Negi was waving his arms in dismissal, "Really, it's nothing to worry about, I just tripped and fell."

Observed Negi glancing over at Asuna and she humphed in response to Negi's look. That told me that the lump very likely given to Negi by Asuna for a reason yet unknown to me sometime this morning. Might have to ask Negi what happened to earn him the lump, perhaps give Asuna a talking to.

"Right then… let's start by taking attendance," said Negi to get the class going.

My young friend went through the list of students at a fair pace, yet I noted that two students were absent. Specifically, the two that weren't here were the ones I was expecting to be here as I'd told Chachamaru to tell Miss McDowell to come to class or face the consequences. Negi also appeared to note both of those missing as I did. I waited until Negi was done with attendance before I spoke up, "Pardon me Negi, mind if I say something?" I asked.

Negi turned and then shortly nodded, and so I continued, "Listen up ladies, for your math class today, it will be a study hall. Negi here, will be overseeing the period. I've remembered something that needs looking into immediately." I finished, then turned and left the room.

 **-Scene Change-**

Headed in the direction that Chachamaru had indicated the 'cabin' that she and Miss McDowell lived in was in. I told Chachamaru to inform the girl she called master for whatever reason, that both of them to be present in homeroom starting today. Neither of them had and so that means they will face the consequences of their choice, which is a personal visit from me. A visit from me isn't something they'll want as I can be a horrible house guest when I've a mind to. Am normally a nice person to be around, but when I tell someone to do something, I expect them to do what I told them. Will just have to see how much persuading will be required to convince Chachamaru and Miss McDowell to start showing up to class AND keep doing so on a regular basis! Wonder how bad a guess I'll have to become to get my point across.

In about ten minutes, I arrived in the areas that are considered the outskirts of the school grounds, a structure came into my view. The structure was a wood cabin, kind of reminded me of the house I grew up in, though a little smaller than my early home. The raised foundation was made out of stone… granite if my eyes are not deceiving me. Two sets of small steps led up to the front of the house. It appeared that house was one, almost two stories in height.

Didn't hesitate, but went straight up the steps and to the front door and knocked on it. A moment later, the door opened and Chachamaru was standing there. Was taken aback a margin as Chachamaru was wearing a black and white 'maid' outfit, bringing thoughts of why she would wear such a thing. "Hello Matthew, what is the reason for your visit today?" she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

Kept my gaze on the girl, "Perhaps you recall me saying for you to tell Miss McDowell that you and her were to be in class starting today," I posed and Chachamaru nodded, "I did mention that should you and Miss McDowell not show up today, that I would be paying a visit, so here I am." I answered simply, "Now, where is Miss McDowell? She and I need to have a chat about time management, since she seems to have trouble with idea."

Chachamaru informed me that the girl in question was inside the house, she then moved aside allowing me in. Not refusing the invitation, I entered the place and glanced around finding quite the ordinary interior of what most habitations I've seen meeting my vision. "Chachamaru, who was at the door… actually, never mind, since I told you to send them away, it doesn't matter." Said a younger sounding feminine voice further inside.

I moved towards where the voice had come and when I came into a room that looked to be a bedroom and saw a young girl laying on the bed. The girl appeared to be around ten years in age, but the feel I got from her told differently. It felt that she was much older than she looked, it was much like the feel that I gave some people, as I'm older than I look. She had near full body length golden blonde hair flowing down her back. The air she gave off was one of someone full of pride and confidence, yet arrogant to an extent. I cleared my throat, "Ahem, assume that you're Evangeline McDowell, I'm here to have a talk to you about your frequent absences from class." I greeted.

Miss McDowell shot up and stared at me, "What the… who the bloody hell are you?!" she demanded.

Gave her an intimidating glare though she didn't flinch like many do, then I gave my reply, "My name is Matthew Selvess, I'm a new professor, who happens to teach one of the classes that Mahora 3-A has. Also, recommend that you mind what comes out of your mouth, or else I might have to clean it out."

Miss McDowell wasn't happy with me being here, the expression made that very clear however, I didn't let that stop me from continuing. "The reason for my visit Evangeline McDowell, is to have and understand your justification for not attending school class when you should be. So then, what's your reason for not being in class McDowell along with Chachamaru?"

Stood where I was, waiting for the answer to my inquiry, for I wouldn't leave until I got one. Doubt that what I would be told would be in my view a valid excuse or justification, but I'll give this girl the chance to come up with something. What I got, was McDowell waving off my question by saying she hadn't wanted to go and then told me to leave since I was bothering her. Apparently, she didn't care to go to class and thought so little of those in charge that she ignored them, include myself. Well, like in times previous for me, I don't get along with those who scoff at others who have responsibility. … Know that were Maria here, she would be holding me back and not allowing me to do what I'm about to, but what my sister doesn't know won't hurt her. This girl in front of me was getting on my nerves with how she was waving me off and I would make her regret that!

I cracked my knuckles, then put a smile on my face, "If that's your answer, then so be it. I'm not one who will force you into going to class," I said nicely.

Turned around and left the room but stayed in the house. I did say that I wouldn't force Evangeline McDowell to go to class and I won't. However, I'll persuade her to go to class by making this place so uncomfortable that she'll promise me what I tell her to, that'll be regular class attendance! Took out one of my Mythril rods that I carried with me, performed my transmutation quietly and changed the rod into a… that's right, a sledgehammer! Glanced around taking in the layout and memorizing where things were, on the search for a target to give a good swing at. Found a perfect candidate in the form of a nice looking china cabinet with a very fine looking set of china displayed inside. Oh… I've the feeling those will make a wonderful sound when they crash to the floor, let's find out how wonderful!

Planted myself slightly to the side to the cabinet, pulled the hammer back like a… oh what's it called… oh yeah, a baseball bat. Did one practice swing, stopping half a foot before contacting the glass of the door of the cabinet. Then I pulled back, and swung forward hard making solid contact with the furniture. The sound of the glass shattering was only out done by the sound of the china smashing on the floor! Smashing the cabinet acted as a signal for Chachamaru and Miss McDowell to come into the room. Yet, by the time they entered I had already found my next object to hit, which was a bookshelf. Normally, I wouldn't dream of harming books since I love them so, but this shelf had journals and not that many other kinds of books so, it's okay. Made a downward swing into the shelf and destroyed the shelves, the books spilling out to the floor.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Screamed the voice of Evangeline McDowell.

I turned around, bringing the sledgehammer's handle to rest on my right shoulder, "Oh, so you can come out of that room, that's nice to know. As you probably see, I'm swinging a sledgehammer around in this room. The thing is, objects keep appearing where I swing, isn't that just the weirdest coincidence?" I said in a happy tone.

My eye caught a vase that would no doubt make a great shatter were I to hit it. Miss McDowell was fuming and shouting at me, wasn't listening to her though. Made a horizontal slice with the hammer and swept the table that the vase was on out and the vase fell smashing to the floor with an amazing crash!

"Chachamaru, stop him!" Commanded Evangeline.

Was preparing for another swing when a hand grabbed my left arm and held me. Unfortunately, that made it difficult to move my left arm as the prosthetics designed the way they are it has the same range as a human arm does. Thankfully for me, I managed to convince the one who built this arm for me, to make it so it could spin with a full three-hundred-sixty-degree range, just in case I should need to do so… like now. Pushed left, heard a click and felt the shoulder socket extend out, then my arm swung up and around to end out in front of me. The action certainly caught Chachamaru by surprise to have my arm spin in a way normal arms don't do. Felt my prosthetic arm return to how it was a moment ago, "Don't take this personally Chachamaru, it's not." I said, before I moved forward and sent my left elbow into Chachamaru's middle, forcing her back.

Turned and faced Evangeline McDowell, "You want this to stop? The quickest way is for you to promise me sincerely that you will start coming to classes on a regular basis. Aside from that, all I can say is sit back and enjoy the smashing show I'm putting on." I stated, then swinging down and burying my hammer into the floor of the sitting area.

Kept up my demolishing streak even as the blonde girl continued yelling at me, the contents did include obscenities, which I'm kind of amazed and perturbed me that this little girl knows and uses such words. That went on for a few minutes before she… shot a spell at me. So, like Negi, this girl can do elemental manipulation, unlike Negi, she doesn't know that I can deflect such things. My mythril has proved very efficient at reflecting what comes from witches, wizards, and other kinds of elemental manipulation practitioners.

I spun around, bringing the hammer around with me and hit the incoming spell and sent it back in the direction it came from. Evangeline showed surprise before she ducked out of the way of the spell she fired at me. The blue orb zoomed past her and hit a wall behind her and ice appeared with the orb struck. I couldn't resist giving some banter, "Sorry there midget, I can deflect spells as the mood or need strikes me. So, lobbing them at me will be a waste of both your time and mine." Then, a thought came to mind making me curious as to the possibility that this girl could somehow be related to those involved in last weekend's events, "By the way, you wouldn't happen to have met a man by the name of Nagi Springfield, have you?"

An expression that ranged from anger to hatred flooded the girl's face, was answer enough to my question. She had met Nagi sometime before now, and whatever had occurred during that meeting and/or since, Evangeline hadn't like it at all. My guess is, that Nagi had been an idiot like he is from time to time, probably pulled some type of practical joke on this girl, humiliating her in the process. Nagi has a habit of doing that to people he believes he'll get a good reaction from. He only made that mistake with me once, my alchemy had proven to him that it would be unwise hasn't done anything in the way of practical joking since.

"You dare speak that name in my presence?!" Evangeline growled.

She glared almost murderously at me, then rushed forward at me in the clear intention of attacking. I readied myself for the attack by drawing back my hammer in preparation to thrust forward. Yet, as Evangeline and I were about to clash with each other, Chachamaru got between us. However, it was too late for either of us to stop our attacks aimed at the other. Evangeline punched Chachamaru in her upper back and my sledgehammer slammed into her abdomen. Chachamaru crumpled to the floor, Evangeline looked horrified with what had just happened. Whereas I put down my hammer and knelt down by the green haired girl, looking her over taking in the damage she had just taken. To my slight surprise, I found that wires and other mechanical parts were hanging out or where visible through the holes she now had.

"Fine, you win. I promise I'll start going to classes on a regular basis," said Evangeline.

Glanced up at the girl's face and saw she meant what she said, meaning that Chachamaru was important to her, more than just a servant. I nodded, "Alright then, good to hear."

The blonde glared at me, "Well, with how you wrecked my house, not like I can undo that you jerk! I don't know that kind of magic!" She snapped at me.

Felt something between a smile and a smirk come to my face, I clapped my hands together and put them to the floor. Blue lightning spread out from where I touched and all the things that I had broken or smashed began to reform through alchemy. When the transmutation was done, everything was in the exact same state as it was before I went on a demolition spree and was precisely where it all was as well.

After I had restored everything, I looked back at Evangeline who was gawking at me, "Was breaking things to convince you to start attending school, not destroying your property. So, as you can see, I've restored all of it and put everything back where it was before." I said evenly, before shifting my gaze back to Chachamaru, "However, I would highly recommend that we take Chachamaru to get fixed… she's not looking too good."

Evangeline muttered agreement, I took off my over coat and draped it over the girl before got down and picked up Chachamaru in my arms, "Then lead the way to wherever you go to get Chachamaru fixed, I'll carry her." I said.

Evangeline led me to the school, then to Negi's classroom, there we found a black haired girl that was a member of Negi and my class. She was a little more towards the shorter end of the height spectrum the class has. The girl wore circular glasses and her hair was styled in two braids, one going out diagonally to either side. Evangeline walked straight for the girl, "Hakase, I need your help, Chachamaru has been damaged." She said.

'Hakase', looked behind Evangeline and saw me carrying Chachamaru and she was twitching a bit. Her eyes widened a little, "What happened?!" Miss Hakase asked.

I gave a weak smile, "An incident occurred, not the time to go into detail I think." I commented, shifting my grip on Chachamaru to make sure I didn't drop her nor did she fall as the twitches were getting steadily worse.

My comment worked as a signal for us to get moving, Miss Hakase was showing us the way to where she said her lab was, when we bumped into Negi of all people. My young friend seemed not to notice me, only to see Evangeline and Chachamaru in my arms. "Chachamaru, and Evangeline, it is very nice to finally be able to meet you," greeted Negi.

Evangeline just started at Negi, like her had said something she didn't understand however, Miss Hakase spoke, "Sorry professor, it's Chachamaru, she's been damaged and so is malfunctioning."

"Malfunctioning?" Questioned Negi.

Miss Hakase lifted part of my over coat up to show the damage that Chachamaru had incurred. Negi gained a shocked expression, "One of my students is a robot?!"

I sighed, "Yes Negi, one of our students is a robot, can this conversation happen later? Chachamaru needs attention and fixing as soon as possible." I remarked.

Negi nodded and Miss Hakase continued to guide Evangeline and I to her 'lab'. The room we were taken to was a smaller room than a clubroom and was filled with equipment for doing work on machines. I was directed to set Chachamaru down on a table in the center of the room and I did so. My overcoat was taken off Chachamaru and Miss Hakase began grabbing tools. Figured that my presence would be a hindrance more than a help, so I headed towards the door. Yet, before I reached the door I heard my name being called, "Thank you Matthew… for carrying me here."

I turned and saw that Chachamaru was looking at me as she thanked me, "Your welcome Chachamaru, sorry for being part of the cause that got you here." I said before exiting the room.

Found Negi waiting outside the room, which I hadn't expected, "Negi… didn't think you followed me, so then, what's going on with you?" I asked.

The way Negi was acting right now, he was having an internal argument about something, so I was patient and waited for him to speak. "Matthew, did you know that one of our students was… not normal?" Negi inquired.

I stared at the boy for a moment, since Negi should be well aware that the world is full of not normal people like us. "Uh Negi, you can perform elemental manipulation at a level that adults have a hard time obtaining. I'm an alchemist, can do things that even witches and wizards are amazed at and make it look easy. Don't think either of us are really in a position to judge others upon being average and normal or not." I returned, then thought for a moment, "Plus, have already seen a few students that have shown unique abilities, so doubt all here are 'normal' Negi."

Negi nodded slowly, "I understand that, but for one to be a robot…" he replied.

Frowned slightly at Negi, "You do remember that I have two prosthetic limbs right, robotics isn't all that different from what I use you know. That said, you shouldn't really be all that shocked." I remarked.

"Ah, there you are Negi, I've been looking for you and you Matthew being here as well is a good opportunity."

Both Negi and I turned and looked down an intersecting hallway and saw our fellow staff member Takamichi Takahata. Negi greeted the man warmly while I just dipped my head once before I asked the question on my mind, "So then Takamichi, you said that Negi and me being together is a good opportunity, what for might I ask?"

"I assume that you two have noticed that there are two students that don't really attend classes?" The man asked.

I paused for a moment, "You're referring to Chachamaru Karakuri and Evangeline McDowell I take it? I posed.

Takamichi smiled, "Yes, figured you would notice their absences Matthew."

Felt a bit of a smirk come to my face, "Well, it will surprise you that those two will start coming to class starting tomorrow. Miss McDowell has given her word that she would be putting forth effort on improving her class attendance."

Both Negi and Takamichi stared at me after I finished my statement and I went on, "I went to where they live and had a talk with them and… persuaded the two to do so."

Takamichi chuckled, "Must admit, didn't think anyone would be able to convince Evangeline to start coming to class more. I have been trying for some time now and haven't had success."

I shrugged, "I have my ways of doing things…" I said, not going into detail.

"Matthew… what did you do to get Evangeline to agree to such things?" Asked Negi.

Gazed at Negi, "Never you mind how I persuaded her," stopped for a couple of seconds, remembering the scuffle I had with Evangeline, "Although, have to admit, she could give you a real run for your money Negi. She can throw a mean spell, I'll give her that."

Negi's mouth fell open, "Wait, Evangeline can use magic?!" He exclaimed fairly loud.

Flinched at the utterance of the word 'magic' and the volume that Negi had said it at as he's a wizard and that's supposed to be a secret. I rushed to Negi and grabbed him, pulling him to me and put a hand over his mouth, preventing him from spouting anything else, extremely thankful that Chamomile wasn't with Negi at this time. "Negi… please keep in mind that you being a wizard and being able to manipulate some of the elements, is not public knowledge and shouldn't be, unless you want to be turned into an animal that will not be of your choosing. Last time I checked, you already have at least three students that do know about your secret, perhaps more. So, best to keep the fact of you being able to do what you do to yourself Negi and keep that number as low as possible."

"A wise piece of advice Negi. Anyways, my reason for looking for both of you, was to inform the circumstances with Evangeline and Chachamaru." Replied Takamichi.

Then, he started into the explanation/story on Evangeline and Chachamaru. As I had gained from my visit, Evangeline was much older than she appears, like myself. By what Takamichi said, she was ten when she had been changed or 'turned' was the term used, into a vampire, though it wasn't by being bitten like I've come to understood the changing process. So, according to Takamichi, that made Evangeline a 'true blood vampire', what the difference is between that and other vampires, not the faintest clue. The thing I had observed, the girl doesn't have issues with sunlight like most vampires do, how that works or was managed, catches my curiosity.

Takamichi also mentioned that Evangeline had indeed met Nagi, and then she had started to chase him, which makes me wonder what happened between those two. Nagi for whatever reason he had, cast a spell that made it so she couldn't leave the school grounds and so she had been her for fifteen years thus far. Evangeline apparently, has an agreement with the Dean to help keep him informed with what's going on and in exchange she has some more freedom. There were still things that Evangeline wasn't supposed to do, but I get the impression that she doesn't care enough to not do what is forbidden. Her lack of respect to authority said she didn't follow the rules unless she had to, normally by force I assume.

 **-Scene Change-**

Evening came around and I was beginning the rounds to make sure the girls were back before curfew. So far, about half of the girls were back to the dormitory, which left the less than half that weren't back and who knows the places girls would go… I certainly don't nor have a wish to at this point. Even with this being the start of week two, I have already identified some of 'the problem students' that Negi and I are responsible for as teachers. Five in particular girls stuck out from the class by student number in order; number four Yue Ayase, number eight Asuna Kagurazaka, number twelve Ku However, she is nice to Negi sometimes and mean to him during others, so gives a very mixed message. However, she is nice to Negi sometimes and mean to him during others, so gives a very mixed message. Fei, number sixteen Makie Sasaki and number twenty Kaede Nagase. The five together, had a nickname given to them by others in the class and outside of it, 'the Baka Rangers'. They should be ashamed of such a name, but there haven't been any signs that the girls cared much about the implications of the name.

Out of those five girls, the one that cause me the most grief right now was Asuna. She and I had quickly come to an understanding, she wouldn't get along with me, but it would be in her best interest to do what I asked… the first time. Whereas I, would tolerate some of her antics, such as her sleeping through class and turning her homework at the very last second. I don't believe that Asuna is a bad person, just needs some organization and guidance. However, she's nice to Negi sometimes and mean to him during others, so gives a very mixed message.

The other four girls of the group, I have no particular issue with them other than their poor grades. I wouldn't think anything of it, were it not for the matter that Negi's and my own performance were being judged by how our classes are ranked in their year both at mid-term and the end of the semester. Classes here at Mahora, are ranked upon a class's average grade and not by individual grades. My high school chemistry class, which is Mahora's high school 3-C, does fabulous in my class, so not worried how that will be seen. Mahora's middle School math with 3-A, concerns me a great amount more. Overall, most of the girls do fine, there are a few who among the top students of their year… yet, the class also has a number of the worst performing ones too. Those would be the Baka Rangers, and they drag the whole class's average down to have them in last place of their year.

It had become obvious from observations I made over the first week, that the majority of the girl's in 3-A didn't mind or really care that their class was in last place. Doubt that they saw or had much in the idea of consequences for their performance. At least, not the same results as Negi or I would face should they be in last place at the end of this semester. The Dean had mentioned that he was counting on the two of us to raise 3-A's grade average. Should we not, then for Negi, it would be considered that he failed and he would probably be sent back to England. As for me, can't say, depends on how my other class does…

Was bought out of my thoughts when there was a change in the air and it wasn't a subtle difference. Took a moment to determine in what direction the change had come from, which I figured to be the towards the front of the dormitory. The change came from some form of elemental manipulation, have been around witches and wizards for long enough to know the feel that come from what they do. I jogged to the front of the building and came to a halt, since I saw Takamichi facing off against a young woman.

Yet, as I looked at the woman, the more similarities I began to see between her and… Evangeline McDowell. Have been getting an impression, call it a hunch if you want that Evangeline was involved in recent events. I suppose it's possible that Evangeline could change her appearance, for the woman looked to be in her early twenties, around the age I appear to be. And as my eyes were flicking back to Takamichi, my gaze stopped below the woman, there on the ground under her, was Chachamaru, fully fixed and walking just fine. That was pretty surprising after what she took earlier today from Evangeline who the woman floating very likely was.

Observed Takamichi readying himself to 'handle' Evangeline, but before he could, four of the students from 3-A came out of the darkness and got a hold on the man. Next thing I heard was 'adult Evangeline' speaking, "Imagine, I just found these girls out this evening… well, someone had to educate them about how dangerous the night can be." She said in a playful tone.

The girls were acting oddly, like they were in some sort of trance as they surrounded Takamichi. They took what appeared to be some kind of ring from Takamichi and kept his attention. Well, my guess is that Evangeline is here to do something to Negi as Takamichi was here to stop her. Meaning that Negi is once again paying for something that his father did to someone else. Honestly, the man never thinks about what affects his actions will have on others… and it's freaking annoying!

… It's a good thing that I happen to have one of my long mythril rods with me, was using it as a 'walking stick' or that's the justification I would use if I were asked why I had such a thing with me. However, the truth is, with what I've already encountered here at this school, I want to be prepared for whatever might come my way. The situation right in front of me is a pretty good example of why it's a good idea to be prepared.

Took a deep breath and strolled out and set myself between Evangeline and the dormitory, not that she seemed to notice me, her attention was still on Takamichi. Well, I'm not one who likes waiting for a fight to start if it's one that I can't avoid, so I clear my throat audibly. "Isn't it rather late for any of you to be out, tis a school day tomorrow after all?" I focused my gaze on the blonde woman, "And you did promise me that you would be attending classes tomorrow Evangeline."

Evangeline was taken aback at the fact that I called her by name, even with her changed appearance. "What?! How did you," Evangeline started.

However, I finished her question and gave my answer at the same time, "Figure out that even with you looking like you do currently, that you're really the ten-year-old looking girl I met earlier today? Wasn't all that hard, bear a striking resemblance and… Chachamaru is here, those two facts were enough to figure it out Evangeline." I paused to take a breath in, "Now, since you're here to no doubt do something to Negi, which he doesn't deserve, sorry to say that I'll be doing my best to prevent you from succeeding."

The woman's expression shifted to one of anger mixed with arrogance, "You think you can stop me?" She challenged.

Planted my long mythril rod into the ground in front of me so that it stayed vertical on its own, "Well, your abilities weren't able to stop me from demolishing stuff in your house earlier today," I said with a bit of a smile, to which she glared at me in response. "I'm pretty confident that I'll manage just fine," I returned.

Evangeline began charging up a spell as the gathering 'blue light' kind of told me, so as I'm not one to stand at take shots aimed at me unless there's an extremely good and valid reason to, I wasn't idle. Clapped my hands together and pointed my palms at the rod in front of me, starting the transmutation of the alloy I take pride in creating.

The mythril glowed and then started reshaping itself into a claymore type of sword that was close to a meter and a half from the end of the hilt to the tip of the blade. With the hilt was just over a foot in length and the blade was around ten centimeters wide. Once my Alchemy was done, I glanced back at Evangeline and saw that the spell she was generating was larger than the last one she chucked at me this morning. As I pulled out the sword I had made with both hands, 'blondie' threw her spell at me. Raised my sword up above my head, and watched the blue orb zooming towards me, waiting for the spell to get close enough. The orb was almost on top of me, when I cut a downward slice in front of me, cutting the spell. The orb split into two separate halves and each part went in the opposite directions from one another.

I stood where I was, firm and unmoving as the two orbs go off and ice appeared on either side of me. None of the ice touched me, though I slashed once both left and right, so as to not let icicles get close to me. As the mist that had formed from the spell Evangeline has sent my way began to part, the look of shock on the girl's face was in clear view of me. I smirked, "Apparently, you have already forgotten that I can deflect spells, that also includes redirecting them by slicing them in twain Evangeline," I said to her.

"Evangeline!" Called a voice I knew all too well and wasn't wanting or hoping to hear at this time.

Turned my head to the right and saw Negi hovering on his staff, gazing at blondie with a determined look on his face. I do believe that Negi was about to do something with nobility in mind, but not fully comprehend what is involved. Negi is innocent and somewhat naïve, he doesn't understand that not all people can be reasoned with. "I am the one you want, leave the others alone, catch me if you can!" Negi exclaimed before he zoomed off on his staff.

Evangeline looked at me once more, before she flew after Negi taking up the chase. I looked down to the ground and spotted Chachamaru running off in the same direction as Evangeline. Sheathed my sword on the back loop on my belt, then went over to Takamichi, who was still being occupied by the girls from 3-A, hit each one of the four girls on the back of the head. My hits weren't 'hard' but neither were they gentle by any means as all four girls grabbed their heads producing sounds of pain. I cleared my throat, gaining the four girls' attention, "Ladies, since it is a school day tomorrow and curfew starts in about an hour, recommend that you all get to your rooms and get down to doing school work. Do so, and I'll let this slide," I said firmly.

The girls nodded and headed into the dormitory building, I grabbed an object as they went and held onto the ring that I had taken which one had unknowingly. Then I turned back to Takamichi, "You okay Takamichi?" I asked.

He nodded, "Yes, though I'm worried for Negi."

"So, what does Evangeline hope to gain from Negi, that's the one piece I've not been able to figure out," I inquired holding out the ring that had been taken from him earlier.

Takamichi took the ring back and placed in on his right hand, "She hopes that by drinking his blood, that she can be free of the spell that Nagi put on her."

I sighed, "Is that so? And once again one of Nagi's bad habits strikes again, and as usual, someone else has to pay the consequences for his short-sightedness too." I muttered in growing frustration.

Takamichi gave me a confused grunt, and so I continued, "This certainly isn't the first time that Nagi's past actions have come back to bite some other than himself in the rear end. Let's just say that I've had to listen to Nagi's wife when she expresses her annoyance in some of the things he has done, it's not a pretty idea to witness."

"Ah, so then, you have met her have you Matthew?" Asked a voice from behind me.

Spun around and saw Dean Konoe walking up to where Takamichi and I were standing. I put a hand to my forehead, "Forgive the mess Dean, I'm dealing with the issue that cause it. I'll be sure to have this cleaned up before tomorrow morning. So if you'll excuse me then, I'll settle the problem tonight so that there's less chance of an incident in future." I said, before I ran off in the direction that Negi, Evangeline and Chachamaru had gone.

Shifted my sword to sit on my left hip as I kept going forward, even though I might not know where the three had exactly gone, I have an educated guess. From what I have found out about Evangeline, she is skilled in manipulating ice, that would infer that she would likely go to a place that had a lot of water. My guess was they went either towards the river here around Mahora or there was also a lake in the forest. I was going with the lake as it was the closer of the two to the dormitory.

After five minutes, I came out of the roof of trees and into view of the lake before me. Evangeline had caught Negi who was still on his staff, yet, on the dock was, of all people, Asuna Kagurazaka. The girl was taking off one of her shoes, then pulled one arm back and chucked the shoe hard at Evangeline. The thrown shoe nailed its intend target with rather surprise accuracy, given the distance between Asuna and Evangeline. Blondie's response was to look around for the source and Evangeline quickly spotted Asuna.

"What the?!" Evangeline exclaimed.

"NEGI!" yelled Asuna.

"Asuna," questioned Negi.

"HEY DRACU-LADY! GET YOUR GRILL AWAY FROM HIM!" Yelled Asuna.

"Why you little… How dare you!" snapped Evangeline.

Asuna then took off her other shoe and pitched it where she had the previous one, and like the other shoe, it made good contact to Evangeline's face.

"OW… NOT THE FACE!" Screeched blondie at Asuna.

Got to say, this is one of the more interesting cat fights that I've gotten to witness and I've seen some real good ones during my travels! However, my mouth fell open as I saw Asuna pick up the boat… yes, this student of mine what lifting a full scale rowboat out of the water and above her head. Then, she threw the boat at Evangeline and like the two shoes before, the object hit her and so, Evangeline fell.

Negi flew down to the dock where Asuna was, thanking her for her help with Evangeline. Yet, as Negi was doings so, Evangeline reappeared, looking like herself as I met this morning and proceeded with freezing the whole lake over and creating a sort of icy labyrinth at the same time. Negi grabbed Asuna and flew off, I assume to hide from Evangeline. I was about to charge forward and help my friend along with our student, when I was forced to duck as a fist sailed passed where I had been. Turned to face my opponent, finding it would be Chachamaru. The green haired girl didn't stop after her first strike missed me, but kept trying to attack me. Took me a bit of time to get my sword out and use it to defend myself and also begin to make headway in this fight.

The majority of my attention and concentration was being used for the fight with Chachamaru, but I did manage to catch glimpses of what was going one with Negi. Saw Asuna send a fair sized icicle Evangeline's way, though blondie avoided the projectile. Unfortunately, that's all I saw as Chachamaru drew back my full attention as a thin blade appear on her right arm at the wrist. Not to say that the blade could overcome mine, mythril isn't a material that can be broken easily. In fact, the alloy is hard pressed to be damaged at all by much, that's how confident I am in my creation. It had proven its resilience many times before and it would do so once again, I personally guarantee that!

Matter of fact, so involved were Chachamaru and I in the fight we were having, that Chachamaru couldn't 'protect' her master, as witches and wizards have someone to protect them from physical attacks. So, Asuna and Negi had the advantage currently as things stand and that wasn't a bad thing in my view. Although I would rather Evangeline not get hurt as I went through the effort of getting her to promise me to come to class regularly starting tomorrow.

Asuna chucked another icicle at Evangeline, yet now that she's a child, evading for her was easier. Evangeline then hollered for Chachamaru to get over to her and help take care of things. Next thing I knew, Chachamaru apologized to me before tossing an object in front of me. The object was a cylinder that had a handle on one end and it was longer than the size of a closed fist. The handle flipped upward and came off, my eyes widened as I realized what the object was. Had just enough time to get my left hand to cover my eyes as the object gave off a bang, yet that's one of the reasons that the particular object is more commonly known as a flash-bang or a stun grenade. The blinding light that came from the grenade showed through the artificial polymer that covers my prosthetic arm, making the mechanical structure visible.

Once the light died down, I caught sight of Chachamaru disappearing into the ice maze Evangeline had made. This pretty much meant my part in this was done for the time being, as I had no real wish to enter that ice maze. Plus, I couldn't see where any of the participants of this battle were anymore, so guess I'll have to watch and see how this plays out.

Heard sounds from behind me and turned to see Takamichi and Dean Konoe walking up to where I was. "So, how goes the event?" Asked the dean.

I gave a brief but concise summary of what had happened thus far since I had arrived on the scene. Of how Evangeline had caught Negi and Asuna intervening, preventing Evangeline from getting Negi's blood for herself. Finished up with saying Chachamaru had set off a flash-bang and gone off into the maze.

Just as I finished my summary, there was a crash and two figures burst out of the ice maze, one was Chachamaru, the other was Asuna. However, Asuna's appearance had changed from what it had been before. It still looked like she was wearing the same type of clothes that made up the Mahora Academy uniform. There were also additions, such as the armor on her left shoulder and the metal gauntlets. Add to that, Asuna's right leg was armored up to her mid-thigh, where her left more had a shoe armor rather than the whole leg. The girl also had a short cape of fabric that was tied like a scarf around her neck. Last but not least, Asuna had a large two-handed cleaver like sword in her grasp.

Asuna was swinging at Chachamaru, but it was quickly obvious, that Asuna was no trained sword fighter… or had likely held a sword in her life before now. For the green haired teen was evading each attack from Asuna and was making it look fairly simple while she did so. Asuna seemed to get more irritated as Chachamaru kept moving out of Asuna's attacks and making quick precise strikes in between.

Another crash sounded, and Negi came out of the mist, with Evangeline not too far behind him. Then out of nowhere, lights lit up on the bridge that spanned the river in town… though I hadn't noticed they were out before now. Once they had, Evangeline stiffened and began to fall towards the ground which she was over. Without hesitation, I began sprinting hard in the direction of the spot that Evangeline was falling towards. Negi made a valiant attempt to save Evangeline, even caught her hand, but she slipped out of the hold. Luckily, Negi had held her long enough for me to get to where I needed to be to catch Evangeline. Had to dive to manage the feat, but I caught the girl, twisted so that I hit the ground first and slide a couple meters before stopping.

Evangeline, looked at me, with surprise as she was on top of me. I let out a sigh of relief when we stopped, "You know Evangeline, handling your antics is a lot of work, you should consider taking time off of these kind of things and give those of us who get to clean up a break every once and a while." I remarked, to which blondie glared at me for.

I got up with the blonde still in my arms, though Evangeline was acting a tad nervous as I walked towards the path from the lake to the school. Negi was following us, once we got to the stone pathway, Evangeline squirmed out of my arms and turned to view the lake, getting rid of the ice that she had created herself. Negi came up to be beside me, while I just looked on at the girl that had caused the ruckus, "Don't tell me the battle is over with already?" Inquired the voice of Dean Konoe.

Both the older man and Takamichi were strolling up to where the three of us were. The dean turned to the girl, "Evangeline, it looks like you finally understand why you were sent here to this academy, but I think your heart realized it much sooner than you." The man said kindly.

"What are you talking about?" Replied Evangeline tiredly.

"Earlier today, you brought Chachamaru in for repairs, you cared about her wellbeing. Until now you've been incapable of that." Answered Dean Konoe.

I smiled a little at hearing that, for I had seen what the dean was talking about. Evangeline may put up a serious and intimidating exterior, but she does care about a few others, meaning that the number of people could be added to in future. "I'm sorry, but I feel a bit lost," said Negi clearly confused.

"In other words" I said, facing the little girl rather than Negi, "Evangeline McDowell, Nagi sent you here to teach what it is to care about another, more than yourself perhaps. An idiot Nagi can be at times, yet he can be smart sometimes. This is a lesson that hearing lectures won't do much, it has to be learned by experience."

Footsteps were heard, so we all turned to see Chachamaru coming to our position, carrying Asuna would was back in normal clothes. "I believe her batteries have been drained," Chachamaru said simply.

"I'm so hungry… I can't move" whined Asuna, her eyes out of focus.

I couldn't stop myself and burst out laughing, the dean doing so with me at Asuna's complaint. It was when Evangeline and Chachamaru were beginning to walk off that I stopped, "You two are to be in class tomorrow, if you don't want to go through a more rigorous visit than I made today. Am I clear Miss McDowell, Miss Karakuri?" I stated firmly.

Evangeline came to a halt but didn't face me, "Crystal… _Sir_." She replied, saying 'sir' in an insulting way. She then turned to gaze at Negi, "Make no mistake Negi Springfield, we are far from done. I'm still intent on taking your blood as I've ever been, so I recommend that you sleep with one eye open with the next full moon comes."

The blonde girl then resumed her journey to wherever she was going. Chachamaru bowed to us and then followed Evangeline. Negi was staring at the two leaving, "Did she just threaten me?" He asked incredulously.

I exhaled heavily at the question, "Genius though you are Negi, you still have a lot to learn my young friend, especially about girls and women," I said to Negi.

The Dean laughed again, "Enough of that, you should attend to your starving student."

Our attention was drawn back to Asuna, "I need food for energy." She whined weakly.

The next morning, routine resumed as it had been going since Negi and I had arrived here in Japan. Evangeline and Chachamaru began to attend classes, which I did appreciate and didn't come down on her as a way of saying well done. Negi wrote to Nekane, telling her about how things were going with both he and I. Did add a comment or two to the 'letter' that Negi sent, and we got one from Nekane, saying that Negi's friend Anya had been assigned to work in London. And so, peaceful days came, just hope they last for a little while. It would be nice to for Negi and I to have time that we didn't need worry about trouble demanding our time and attention.

Chapter end

 **A/n**

 **And that's where I'll leave off. Fun for everyone, but for how long, not very. Anyway, wish I could have gotten this chapter out earlier, but between school and work, so little time to write for any of my stories. It makes me sad! But I try to get these out as best and fast as I can. So please take the time to write reviews and tell me what you think. Reviews help improve my writing or you can just PM me if you don't want others to see what you think. Peace out all!**


	4. Weird Sludge Appears

**A/n**

 **I have no real explanation where this chapter came from, but here it is. Hope you enjoy it!**

Chapter 4: Weird Sludge Appearing

It had been close to a week since the events with Evangeline around the lake and dorm, but things were at last settling into a bit of a routine. Both Evangeline or Eva for short and Chachamaru were attending classes on a daily basis now, to which I was pleased about. Nonetheless, I think Eva didn't want me to come visit her house due to what I did last time, even though I had undone all the damage I had made. Anyways, the girls of 3-A had come to accept Negi and I were going to be there teachers and were getting used to the idea. And my high school girls were dutiful at doing what I assigned them and did very well in my class.

So, classes had come to an end for the day for Negi and I, we were walking down one of the hallways of the school building that our classrooms for 3-A were in. My chemistry classroom is in a different building as it's a high school course and the level of schooling were divided into separate parts of this academy. Back to topic, our students were off at their club activities for apparently, you can have a club here at Mahora for just about anything. I can see good and bad points with that kind of mentality, there can be some ridiculous ideas for groups to be formed, but it's good to let the students here the opportunity for free thinking.

Negi was telling me about some of the clubs that the girls had told him about, probably to get him to be a club advisor were I to guess. Have had a few ask me the same thing, even some of the high school girls from my chemistry class have asked and… begged for me to be an advisor for the club they were members of. It was when Negi mention that Asuna had started a club to find a chupacabra that I came to a halt, staring at the kid. "Are you serious Negi? Asuna has created a club for the sole purpose of finding a chupacabra, a creature whose existence is questionable to begin with?" I questioned in slight disbelief.

Negi nodded, "Yes, the academy approved the creation of the club and so, she is at the 'Chupacabra Research Society' with a few others right now." He said.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, "Of all things she could have an obsession about, why on a mythical creature? I'll not ask who is with her or got dragged to go with her to this club she came up with, just stating for the record that I want nothing to do with it period," I replied and then we resumed walking.

Negi and I made our way outside and shortly thereafter, we came into view of Asuna and a few of our other students, who I would assume Asuna convinced to go along with her in the chupacabra club. In fact, Asuna was calling out for the creature that the club was made for, but what she was approaching… wasn't what she was looking for. The reason that I knew that, comes from the time I've spent around wizards, recognizing something that's unusual, just out of place or both. I may not see whatever it is in a way to be able to identify it, but I can see it being out of place rather than something unnatural in the world. Negi pointed his staff at whatever the stuff was… looked like black sludge to me and used his elemental manipulation skills to change the stuff into a… weird looking raccoon with a hat.

Asuna slammed down a net she had over the 'raccoon' seconds after Negi changed the sludge into it. So, when she saw that what she actually caught, she was very confused and her hair showed it. How her hair can do that, is a mystery to me, but then there is a lot about Asuna Kagurazaka that doesn't make sense to me. "Negi, Matthew, see you have taken care of this one," said Takamichi.

Both Negi and I turned and saw our older colleague coming up to the two of us, "How many does this one make for you Negi?" Asked Takamichi.

"This makes three," replied Negi.

Takamichi nodded, "I've already taken care of five," he said.

I cleared my throat, "Excuse me you two, mind cluing me in on what you two are referring to in more detail? Granted, there was something there that wasn't natural, so wasn't supposed to be where it was. But, what is that black sludge and what does it do to be as dangerous as you imply it to be." I inquired.

Negi faced me, "Wait… You could see the darkness Matthew?" exclaimed Negi.

I nodded slowly, a little confused by what Negi had called the sludge, "Yes, I saw the black sludge or goop, don't know why you call it darkness, but to each their own. The sludge wasn't what I would call darkness really." I returned.

Takamichi regained my attention and started explaining to me, "Well Matthew, what you call black sludge is a form of magical darkness and it does not have good intentions at all, that is clear…"

Don't doubt the man would have kept going, but Negi and I noticed two red dots of light heading for the school building. Negi was off running first and I was a few steps behind him, leaving Takamichi to catch up with both of us. We came into a clubroom and if the chalkboard is anything to judge by, this room was for the 'Chupacabra Research Society'.

However, there was little time to take in much of the room as the two red dots of light landed on a book and after a light glowed and died down, two… 'things' stood before us. One looked like a cat without arms and legs, the other was a frog with spindly legs and arms. As Negi and Takamichi were silent, I took that as I would be the spokesman in this… we'll see if that was a wise idea to go with. "Okay then, who the hell are you two? Then what are you two supposed to be. And most importantly, who the hell's idea this was for you two to appear out in the open for anyone, wizard or non-wizard could see you? For they need to be fired for this, then punished for the rules they have broken and the stress they caused for others." I said to the two new arrivals.

Only some of my questions were answered, my first assessment in what they looked like was accurate. Other than that, my questions went unanswered, which irked me a fair bit. The reason being, Negi has had many lectures on the importance of secrecy, had been around for some of them… boring as heck. And then, he had also been threatened to lose a lot if he does reveal he's a wizard. Yet, these two here had blatantly taken a serious risk of being seen and aren't mentioning any of the rules wizards and witches have for themselves, which they had broken.

We went to the Dean's office as the message the cat and frog had was for him apparently and was urgent. Once in the office, they introduced themselves, the cat was named Shigimi and the frog was called Matsu. They did mention that they had come from England's Magic School, which Negi had attended. After Matsu said that what they were here to tell was a serious matter, it was Shigimi who finally got down to delivering the message that they had traveled to bring. "It seems, to our dismay… that someone has stolen the star crystal from the magic academy nya." Shigimi said in a slightly embarrassed tone.

Everyone, minus me, was surprised at hearing this, as for me, I'd hear mention of this 'star crystal' from a couple of witches and wizard, but nothing other than the name. It had always made me somewhat curious, as the mention of the star crystal had always been with apprehension, fear or both. Dean Konoe asked for conformation of this event, and both Matsu and Shigimi said it was true. I grunted to swing everyone's attention to me, "Shocking as I would guess the theft of this star crystal is, would someone please fill me in on what it is and what it does. Only have ever heard the name, never any more detail than that, I think most just assume all witches and wizards know about it already. Apparently forgetting, there is one 'true' alchemist around that isn't all knowing and would like to have logical explanations and not 'that's how magic works'." I requested.

Dean Konoe spoke up and began explaining to me what the star crystal was and why it was so dangerous. By the description, it sounded an awful lot like the Philosopher's stone back home and that thing was a horribly dangerous object. The star crystal had many of the same qualities as the stone and to those who knew details about it, we referred to it as the devil's work for a reason. Being among those few and this star crystal is sounding far too similar to the stone for my liking or comfort, I began assuming that it was equivalent to the stone overall. When the dean had finished I spoke, "So, let me see if I understand this right, this star crystal, is an object that can amplify a witch's or wizard's… _magic_ without a foreseeable limit." I stated, saying magic in a derogatory manner as I've always done, before going on, "And this thing was put where lots of people had access to and no guards or security were in place?!" I asked incredulously.

My gaze flicked to Shigimi and Matsu, they were nodding slowly. I let out an exasperated sigh, "Then why is it such a surprise that someone stole it?! An item like that is far too tempting for some to resist taking and using it for themselves. Please don't tell me that there was no one patrolling that night, so that there aren't any clues of who it was that took this star crystal." I keep staring at the two who had come from the magic academy and their expression was answer enough for me, I was completely right. Couldn't help the thought that came out of me, "Some wizards and witches can be horrendous idiots! It's times like this I'm amazed that people that can't do elemental manipulation haven't discovered that witches and wizards exist yet with such huge blatant mistakes made."

"Matthew, this isn't the time for that and it's wrong for you to say such things," chastised Negi.

Swung around to face my young friend, "Negi, this doesn't just show irresponsibility, it's reckless assumption and stupidity in action and that is more than just dangerous. Still… I admit, this isn't the time for this so, a discussion for later perhaps," I replied to Negi before facing the dean again.

Negi then asked Dean Konoe if the 'darkness' was related to the theft of the star crystal, to which the reply was there wasn't enough information to say. The meeting was concluded on the note of the need to be vigilant for any clues as to this crime. Negi and I headed to the teachers' office room that Negi and I had desks in. I got down to sorting papers that needed grading and which class it went with. Negi was going over his Japanese language work book he was using to learn the language better. It was shortly after we started our tasks, some more unwelcome news came to the both of us in the form of seeing the frog and cat from before appear on Negi's desk. Leaned over and sighed, "What may I ask, are the two of you still doing around here? You delivered your message, so pack your bags and get the heck out of here, the sooner the better in my opinion," I said none too nicely, but then I was developing a growing dislike of these two for some reason.

What that reason was for my dislike, I can't exactly say, but they are annoying the hell out of me! Maybe it is the vibe I get from them, which is that of a tattle tale watching for material to use to blackmail their target. I don't know, could be something completely different, but with how good I somehow am at predicting situations like this… I'm reserving judgement for now. I mean, for example on how I'm good at predicting odd situations like this one is, there was homunculus Lust, who became a stalker of me… was freaky in ways words can't say! Or there was the dynamic between Roy Mustang and the mini midget, Edward Elric… hope I'm wrong in this.

"Oh, how rude of you to say that, we thought we could stay and enjoy the sites here in Japan," rebuked Shigimi.

… Again, there's something about these two that's bugging the freaking hell out of me and it somehow feels familiar, but I can't place the feeling at all. Although, this also meant that if they did stay, guess who gets to play host to them… you guessed it, Negi and me… that doesn't sit well with me in the slightest! Yet, Negi being the kind-hearted kid that he is even with it is to his detriment, said that there was no problem with Matsu and Shigimi staying. But Matsu's reply only served to irritate me more, "Please don't mind us, even though we'll likely be a bother… in a good way." He said.

It took me a good amount of willpower to not hit Matsu after he said that, it was so annoying, especially the last bit of it. However, instead, I took Negi aside and out of hearing range of Shigimi and Matsu to have a word with my young friend. "Negi, as your friend, I must say something in this instance or I couldn't consider myself your friend. I admit, Chamomile isn't healthy to have around you, but… these two are I feel, going to be worse for you in a different way than the white rat is." I paused and glanced back to where Shigimi and Matsu still were, ignoring the rat's response to my comment about him, then looked back to Negi, "I get the impression that those two might tattle on you should they catch someone seeing you do magic, no matter how small it may be. That would land you in serious trouble Negi, you're not a master wizard yet so are held to a very high standard still."

Negi waved off my worry I was expressing for him and returned to his desk. I hoped I was just being a tad paranoid in this, but this vibe of trouble won't leave me. And as if to make the feeling worse…

"You know Negi, if you do something wrong, then we will have to report it nya," said Shigimi in a sing song voice.

"Definitely, but don't mind us, watching your every move… in a good way" added Matsu.

This irked me all the more, the test that Negi was doing right now is tough enough as it is, hiding the fact that he's a wizard from those around him. This added wrinkle of these two watching Negi's every move was absolutely unfair and also, if I'm not mistaken, against a rule or two of this test he is doing.

 **-Scene Change-**

Negi and I left the office, to get away from Matsu and Shigimi more than anything else, and were outside on the academy grounds. The white rat was chattering about the issue that the two previously mentioned tattle tales would present… and though I wouldn't admit it easily in the dirty rat's presence, I agreed with him. Chamomile wouldn't let me live it down if he heard me agreeing with him since I almost always don't, if I respond to the rat at all. The view the rat had was valid, Shigimi and Matsu said they would be watching Negi, looking for an excuse to fail him, makes me wonder who has it out for Negi.

My young friend's counter was that he had done nothing wrong, to which I know he's wrong with… on three counts thus far. In fact, I reminded him of that, "Negi, I feel the need to correct you by reminding you that three of our students know you're a wizard, even if you don't remember or know it." I said.

Negi stopped and looked at me, "Well, Asuna does, but that's all Matthew and she promised that she would keep it a secret," he replied.

I shook my head, "I happen to know that two others are in the know about you as well, those being Mana Tatsumiya and Zazie Rainyday. One was told about you by the dean, so Mana shouldn't be an issue, but Zazie saw you do elemental manipulation, thankfully I got her to promise she wouldn't talk about it and I'm inclined to believe she won't say anything."

Negi was quiet after I said that, clearly nervous at the prospects as they sunk into his brain. I told him I would see him later, before I headed back towards Dean Konoe's office. The dean might not be able to help change or explain this situation, but he could get into contact with those who can and I wanted to have a serious chat with them. Wasn't in the mood to 'knock' on the door, so I just kicked it open instead and to Dean Konoe's credit, took my entrance in stride. "Mister Selvess, to what do I owe your visit? Would assume it's important as you kicked in my door." he greeted me calmly.

Nodding, before I gave my answer, "Indeed dean, I can fully understand that the star crystal theft is a bad thing, probably better than most would understand. But with Shigimi and Matsu staying here, I'm seriously concerned about things going forward for Negi." I made my way to the dean's desk and put my hands on it, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but when a wizard is undergoing their test to become a master wizard, they are to be 'loosely' observed, emphasize on the loosely. That doesn't mean that the teste has every single move they make watched, to be failed at the tiniest mistake. That would make the test pretty much impossible and unpassable for any in the real world, for the chance at a perfect score on a practical exam is extremely low. This kind of thing, where someone gets some of the set rules ignored, only happens when someone pulls strings to have another fail the test and face the consequences and I can't think of anyone who would want to do that to Negi."

The dean's reply to me was that he could do very little in this, but he did tell me he could arrange a meeting with the head of the magic academy right now if I wanted, to which I agreed to. He did a spell to have an image of the principle of England's magic academy appeared for me to communicate with. Had met the man a few times, knew him simply as principle Smith and knew him to be a reasonable man willing to at least listen to what was said and I would take that. "Ah, Matthew Selvess, good to see you're doing well, what is it I can do for you at this time?" Smith asked.

I forced a smile, "Well Smith, your envoys arrived in Japan and told us about the theft of the star crystal. But, they are apparently staying and watching Negi Springfield while he's taking his master's level exam. As I recall, that would be a violation of the set rules of this particular exam as it would make it just about impossible to pass for anyone. So, what is the mean of these 'proctors' Smith?" I demanded.

Principle Smith gained an expression of bafflement on his face at my demand, "Envoys? I do not know what you are referring to Mr. Selvess. And how is it that you know about the theft of the star crystal? It only happened within the last twenty-four hours, we're still looking into the incident here." Smith returned to me.

The response puzzled me for it didn't make sense with the current circumstances, I'm beginning to think there's more to this than either of us know. I set down to explaining to Smith about the appearance of Shigimi and Matsu, the message they delivered to those of us here and finished by telling him about how they were staying to watch Negi. Principle Smith looked even more confused than before, "None of the staff here, nor I sent any envoy to Japan. And where it is good that you and the others there know about the incident, hopefully so that you can keep your eyes open for anything unusual and perhaps help with catching the thief. I will look into this further and try to find out who could have sent them and get back to you two when I learn of something." Answered Smith before disappearing.

I apologized to the dean for coming in so rudely and he forgave me for the action, then I left the room. I was looking for Negi to tell him what facts had come to light from the conversation I had been a part of, for clearly Shigimi and Matsu aren't representing who they claim they are. My search ended when I found Negi… with Nodoka Miyazaki and by the way the white rat was freaking out, the two had been caught with Negi doing his craft. …And so the number of risks goes up to four. I swear, I leave Negi alone for less than an hour and he finds himself in deep trouble. Nagi is worse in this kind of thing, but that's not something Negi should be developing!

Glanced over to where they were staring and spotted Shigimi and Matsu, with excited looks on their faces… I think that is what I was seeing at least. I drew closer to listen to what was being said, "This doesn't look good, no one is supposed to know that you're a wizard, but now she does" Matsu was saying

The next to speak up was Shigimi and it was moving or dance with glee, "Guess what, guess what, no, don't guess, we get to report you!"

I stepped forward out from behind the bushes I had been behind and was now directly behind the two tattle tales, "You do that kitty, then I spill everything about how you've been lying about your purpose here and then I'll report you! And the same goes for you frog, perhaps your master will be caught too, one can only hope," I stated coldly, folding my arms putting on an expression that Teacher would be proud of.

Both Shigimi and Matsu turned to face me and the quickly started shaking at the sight of me as I continued, "You almost had all of us, including myself fooled, think you're so smart with how you acted didn't you?!" I asked, still in a cold tone.

"Matthew, what are you talking about, what has Shigimi and Matsu not told us?" questioned Negi.

Matsu and Shigimi began shaking their heads violently from side to side, pleading for me to not say more. I just gazed at them with an expressionless face, "That depends Negi," I said, my eyes flicking up to look at Negi, then going back to the tattle tales. "You two going to be insistent on 'reporting' this, or will you be wise and pretend that you saw nothing here?"

Shigimi and Matsu nodded said they saw nothing and disappeared from the area very quickly and went to who knows where. I focused my attention back on Negi and Nodoka, giving them a stern look, "Assume that you two have a valid explanation for being alone like this, for normally it's inappropriate for those your ages to do," glanced at the rat, "Hope he didn't have something to do with this Negi. I know I've mentioned more than a few times now, that listening to him is not a good thing my friend. And if he is somehow responsible for this happening, then he and I will be having a serious talk behind closed doors without you Negi, being present."

Chamomile was shivering at what I had said I would do with him if he was at fault for Negi nearly getting stripped of his qualifications. "Well Matthew…" began Negi, but Nodoka interrupted him.

"It's not what you think Professor Selvess!" she exclaimed.

Felt an eyebrow rise at what this student of mine was saying, "I'm not accusing either of you of anything other than being here with each other, which is fact. All I'm asking is what went on between you two while unsupervised. It is a simple question I would think to answer," I remarked.

Negi quickly started the explanation I requested, told me that Nodoka had seen him taking care of more of the black sludge that had popped up. Nodoka had freaked out, but admittedly had taken learning that their kid teacher is a wizard better than Asuna did. Nothing else apparently happened between them and I hadn't doubted either of them really. If there was anyone that I didn't trust, then it was the dirty white rat and it was for very good reason I had my doubts about his trustworthiness. And speaking of the dirty white rat, he appeared on Negi's shoulder and began chattering away about how Negi should make a contract with Nodoka. My response was to smack my forehead with a hand, "Once again, your two cents and opinion isn't needed, you dirty white rat." I said to Chamomile.

Said rat bristled at me, "For the umpteenth time, I am not a rat that you would find down an alley, I'm an ermine fairy!" he shouted at me.

My left hand shot forward and grabbed the rat, brought him close to my face, "And for the umpteenth time to you, what makes you think I care whether you are an ermine or a so called fairy you dirty white rat?" I growled, squeezing him as I did so. Took a moment to look back towards Negi and Nodoka, seeing they were both blushing and not looking at one another. Then I turned my head back to Chamomile, "No, what I should say to you white rat, is that you're an idiot for not remembering that you're talking to a near ten-year-old and a middle school teen." I grumbled at the white pain in my rear lately, before I released him from my vice grip.

Chamomile fell to the ground, then he made distance from me and kept bristling at me… that's until he got kicked, by Asuna of all people. The orange haired teen wasn't alone either, there was a number of students that Negi and I share. That number was made up of Asuna in the lead, Konoka, and Setsuna Sakurazaki, those were the ones I knew the full names for sure. The others I remembered from the class role, there was Miss Nagase, believe her first name is Kaede. Next was the dark green haired girl that is an artist of the class, Miss Saotome, can't come up with her first name at the moment, think it begins with an 'H'. Last but not least, there were the twins 3-A has, both with the last name of Narutaki, know both have a first name that starts with 'F', other than that, don't know the difference between them. Am still working on memorizing names of the students I teach, continues to be a fault of mine, difficulty remembering names.

"Miss Kagurazaka," I hollered and all the girls stopped and turned to face me. "What are you girls doing that has you in such a hurry?"

Miss Saotome gave me the answer to my inquiry, "We're going to go see a chupacabra professor!" she replied.

The group of girls continued on into the school building ahead of them, which was I can't say what the structure is used for off the top of my head. I followed them, Negi a few steps behind me and Nodoka on the heels of Negi. After entering the building, found it was empty other than the girls and us teachers with them. I noticed that Negi, shortly after we came into here, stiffened as if he felt something. Had to admit myself, there was something definite off, felt kind of like I was facing a homunculus again, at least there was the same feeling of foreboding danger. So much so, that my right hand was touching one of the mythril rods on my belt, ready to pull out for use in defense of my life and those around me. The weird thing, haven't had this feeling to this extent since I had to get Nagi out of some serious stuff he got himself into years ago.

"Say girls, how about we split up and look around here?" Suggested Negi.

Could tell right away that Negi wanted the girls to go elsewhere so that he could use elemental manipulation to track down whatever was here putting off this bad sensation. That's all well and good, more power to him I say, it is nice that he is finally thinking ahead and trying to keep the number of liabilities he had down. While he does that, I'll go about this my own way and we can compare observations when this is all said and done. Most of the girls agreed and went one way, leaving Negi and me almost alone, there was still Nodoka and Asuna had stayed behind.

I decided to make my exit discreetly while there was none really watching, setting out on my own to explore this place. The structure itself was normal enough, nothing that I could tell was out of place, still, this bad feeling about this situation wouldn't leave me. By the time I had inspected three rooms and finding nothing, things changed abruptly. Everything around me changed as a wave of black passed by where I stood. When I next glanced around me, I found myself… in what appears to be Wales, England, which made little if any sense. Didn't have much time to take in the scenery, as hedges shot up ahead of me out of the ground.

Once the hedges finished their uncommon 'growth spurt', I continued forward, though I did so cautiously, prepared for the unexpected. It was only a few minutes into the maze that the hedges had formed, when I bumped into another, falling to the ground. To my surprise, I looked up and discovered Evangeline in front of me and Chachamaru was behind her, "Evangeline… didn't expect to find or see you around here… wherever here is," I said as a greeting.

Evangeline's eye locked on to mine and widened, "What the? What the bloody hell are you doing here?!" She demanded loudly of me.

I gained a frown on my face, "Mind your language young lady, a student shouldn't use such an exclamation," I chided.

"Indeed master, you should hold yourself above saying things in such a way," added Chachamaru.

Evangeline appeared to be about to snap at Chachamaru, when she seemed to realize that the scenery was as I had stated, not like it was supposed to be. I got to my feet, before stretching out a hand to Evangeline and after she accepted, begrudgingly, helped her to her feet. It was clear to me that Eva still didn't much like me, but she had learned that going against me or challenging me would be a serious amount work on her part. My observations told me, Eva didn't have the habit to put lots of effort into something unless she saw it as worth it to her to go through, and I don't seem to be worth the work… yet at least.

I was about to ask what the two of them were doing around this fake Wales, when there was a clearly audible scream to my left, Eva's right. Had no hesitation, but broke out into a sprint in the direction that the scream had come from. Could hear both Eva and Chachamaru behind me, following for whatever reason they had. Evangeline passed me and leapt up to the top of the hedges, which is rather unfair at the moment for her to do. However, that may be her way of 'one uping' me, where I can't do much to counter her in, she is smart, I'll give her that. The next thing I knew, Chachamaru came up beside me with thrusters on her back alight and held out a hand. I took the offered hand and Chachamaru pull me up and got me to the top of the hedges at the same level as Evangeline herself.

The three of us were still heading towards where the scream had come from, Eva and I going along the hedge top, Chachamaru was flying with the thrusters in her back. The top of the hedges was akin to solid ground, how they grew to be like that, I can't begin to guess. It wasn't more than a few minutes when the site of Negi and a few girls came into view. Opposite of them in the air was… an odd creature. It was small, had a white body green plantlike arms and legs with a humanistic head surrounded by red flower pedals.

Asuna was changed yet, this time it wasn't the red outfit with armor and sword, it was more the classic Japanese male samurai outfit I have seen in some of the history books I have gotten my hands on, with a large paper fan. …Now that I think about it, by what I understand about the contracted protector of a witch or wizard, they have three cards that can be drawn. That being the case, this must be one of the other two cards Asuna has… wonder what the last one does.

Anyways, Asuna shot forward, the creature used vines that came from below to smack Asuna way from her course towards it. Then, more vines appeared and bound Nodoka and raising her up in the air, to which Negi did make a valiant effort to save the girl, but was denied when vines wrapped around his staff. Eva sprang into action and used her elemental manipulation to send ice, cutting down Nodoka and Asuna managed to catch her. Looked back at the flower creature and saw it was appearing skittish and was about to run, so I took action to make sure that this thing wasn't completely lost. I sent a small amount of mythril at the thing and it attached to it, acting as a tracking method for me to find this creature later.

Not too long after I had done so, the flower thing bolted away from our group, yet Eva caught its movement. The blonde leapt up into the air to give chase to the odd thing, but when Chachamaru called to Evangeline, saying that she wouldn't be able to fly, I knew there was trouble. Although I'm an alchemist, my skills lie in particular areas, but I can do some other areas that I don't specialize in, just nowhere near as well. Plants isn't one that I've tried, but I have a general idea how it works… one of the take aways from the second time I had gone through the gate, wasn't as bad as the first experience, but still horrendous. Back to the situation at hand, I clapped my hands together and them put them down to the hedge under me, and managed to get the greenery to move and shift to give Eva a softer landing.

However, something zoomed passed Chachamaru and I, striking Eva in her back, before being absorbed into her. That something for the split second that I had seen it, looked to be the weird black sludge that had been popping up lately. There was a definite change with Evangeline, even I, who am not a wizard felt it. The blonde turned to us and one look showed that she had no friendly intention towards us right now. Prepared myself to defend, grabbing a rod and transmuting it into a medium length sword.

Negi demanded to know who it was that caused all of this and was controlling Evangeline at the current moment. I couldn't help myself by tell Negi how foolish such a thing this was, "Negi, it isn't worth asking them that question. They will unlikely give you a sensible answer anyways, if they give you one at all that is." I remarked to Negi, but keeping my attention on Eva.

Evangeline then shot two spells, one at Negi the other at me. I brought my sword up to a position to give a good solid horizontal swing and executed the movement, sending the spell away from me. Negi, seeing the spell, promptly did as he had the last time Eva had sent a spell his way and had it circle him once and made it return to sender. The spell made good contact with Evangeline and as it had, I raced forward, not thinking about my actions fully. Leapt up and caught Eva in my arms and managed to land back on the hedge top, though closer to the edge than I liked. Was breathing a little harder, when the environment around us began disappearing. I attempted to run ahead of the disappearing ground, but didn't make it very far when the hedge top vanished from under me. Felt myself falling downward with Evangeline still in my arms, then Chachamaru caught me, stopping Eva and I from slamming into the ground.

Once on the ground, one glance around the room, I saw that everything was back to what it had been before this all had started. Chachamaru took Eva from me and left, where I went over to Negi and the other two girls to check on them. Everyone seemed to be okay with all that had just happened, but that left the question of what this was all about unanswered.

 **-Scene Change-**

I looked around me and found whiteness, until my gaze fell upon a familiar, yet hated double doors I had seen a couple of times before. There were two reasons I hated the doors so; the first was, the times I had gone through them, it had been some of the worst experiences of my life, the second the one I would see with this place. Then I heard the voice I loathed with every fiber of my being now, " _Well well, our paths cross again Silver Alchemist._ "

Spun around and glared with loathing and hatred at the being known as 'Truth'. Every time, I had crossed paths with this being, my life had taken a turn in a way I didn't want nor chosen. Yet, this guy found it funny to see me struggle, he apparently liked seeing Edward Elric and myself go through hardship. "What the hell do you want Truth?!" I growled.

Truth smiled at me, which irritated me badly, " _Want? And here I am going to send you help for your troubles that you are dealing with. Maybe it will make things more interesting?"_ Truth mused.

I didn't like the sound of that at all! Truth screws with me and I hate it, but… I would wish such a fate on no one else, not even on any of the homunculus. I jabbed a finger at the being that had cause me so much grief, "Don't you dare Truth, you watching my issues and suffering should be enough for you, don't involve another in your entertainment!" I shouted.

Truth laughed at my demand, " _We shall see Silver Alchemist, we shall see."_

Everything around me faded and my eyes snapped open and I found myself in my bed. I was breathing raggedly, knowing that meeting Truth hadn't been a 'dream' and it irked me more because of that fact. After I woke up, the day began the routine it had taken on over the last few weeks, classes came and went and there was nothing out of the ordinary. I was sitting in on Negi's last class of the day, my chemistry class had ended an hour ago and now I was observing the girls of 3-A. My worries from before about their performance still remained, Negi will be judged by how they do in their midterms and finals as will I. For me, I just think that my high school students will save my rear by their scores, but Negi doesn't have a second class to help him like I do.

Once class ended, Negi was caught by Nodoka and the two slipped away from the rest of the class. What that meant for myself, is then a number of the girls came to me, whining that Nodoka had disappeared with Negi. Why they came to complain to me, I haven't the faintest idea, maybe since I'm the manager of the dorm they live in the see me as the figure to give their grievances to, I don't know. Some of the girls did actually had questions relating to the math class I have them for, which I answered without a problem, but most just came to whine or have my attention. Yes, Negi isn't the only one the girls chase after, a third of them focus on me, another third go to Negi exclusively, while the last third go between Negi and I.

It was Konoka Konoe and Setsuna Sakurazaki that assisted me, saying that they had invited me to see the academy's planetarium. I was quick to going along with the story as it helped me get away from the girls that have the 'hots' for one or both of their teachers. Plus, along the way, I learned that the two girls were going to the planetarium to avoid the 'Chupacabra club' as they were planning for another hunt headed by Asuna herself. Can completely understand the wish to avoid that club, it is ridiculous in my view!

We arrived in the room that housed the planetarium and the room itself had stadium type seating that sunk towards the center. In the center, was a large mechanism that I believe was supposed to represent the planets and the sun relationship as they move. It was quite an impressive machine, even I have to admit that. The sheer complexity was neat, I would love to inspect it closer, but something tells me that would be taken nicely without permission. Although I'm not all that familiar with the subject of Astronomy so, I can't say how accurate this planetary model actually is. I wasn't the only one that was impressed by the machine, Konoka was as well.

Two of my other students, I believe their names are Naba Chizuru and Murakami Natsumi if I remember the roll correctly. Both apparently were members of the Astronomy Club and had agreed to let Konoka, Setsuna along with myself to look at the planetary model. They had asked if there was anything I wanted to know, in a way that made me think that they wanted me as an advisor for the Astronomy club, but maybe not, who knows.

Konoka did make the request if she could try putting in a date to see how things would look on the said date, or something like that. She did mention that Astronomy had been a hobby of hers for a good deal of time when Setsuna asked if she knew what she was doing. I don't know if that is a good or bad thing in this case. As I watched, Konoka brought out a collection of sticks and rubbed them together, "Now show us the future, show us the way, let us gaze upon the stars and divine what will come our way." She chanted.

…That sounded like a lot of hocus pocus, and as a scientist, I don't put stock into superstition, "Konoka, don't know if I should be the one to tell you this, but chants like that don't work. When some claim they do, it is just circumstances work out and they claim they knew." I said.

Konoka ignored my statement and kept going, I watched for a little while longer, but then got up and left to find something else to do. As I was walking around looking for something interesting to occupy myself with, I came upon one of the open areas and got my wish. In the said open area, was Negi and Nodoka, and at this time Negi was invoking her contract. Once done, the only noticeable change, was that Nodoka has a pair of red rimmed glasses on her face and a book in her hands that looked like a journal of some kind.

Shortly after I took this in, I heard a ding… coming out of an unseen source that I think came from somewhere around Nodoka. Then she opened the book she had and read what was assumedly on the pages. Let me tell you, what the teen read wasn't only unexpected, but also hilarious to listen to, more for whom it displayed as the perverted degenerate that he is. The thoughts of the dirty white rat were being read out loud, stripped bare for those of us present to hear! And it proved me right in calling Albert Chamomile, dirty and a pervert along with a rat. Some of the highlights, were him wetting the bed recently and then having Negi take the fall for him with Asuna… will have to get him back for that, since Negi wouldn't do anything against the rat. Or there was a short story about the rat proposing to a lady that wisely turned him down, calling him a complete slob.

Consider this around the same level of entertainment that I get teasing the mini midget and watching the reactions he gives me in response. Came out from behind the greenery snickering as I came, "Got to say you dirty white rat, Nodoka sure showed you your place." I commented, with a smile in clear view for all to see. "Have always said that you were a no good dirty rat, and now we hear of your activities that prove me right. You got exactly what you deserved Chamomile."

There was another ding from nowhere and then Nodoka spoke up again, "It's good to see Nodoka is shedding some of the shyness that she had before. Makes me worry less about the girl's future seeing her extend herself around Negi and others."

I froze at hearing that, for those were the thoughts I had about Nodoka after observing this situation a bit. Turned towards Nodoka, who was looking at me, "Is… is that what you really think about me professor?" she asked in a tone that was hard for me to read.

Rubbed the back of my head, "Um well, when Negi and I got here, you really acted very shy and quiet, avoiding both of us almost all the time. You seem like a nice girl and so it is good to see you trying to do more, fulfilling your potential and everything Nodoka." I answered calmly as I could.

Once more, there came a ding and Nodoka looked at the pages of the book, before she gained a heavy blush on her face. Then she… posed for Negi, which was followed by another ding, to which the girl went back to the book again. She repeated the action however, this time whatever it was she read, didn't sit well with her. I glanced over suspiciously at the rat and saw him smirking at Nodoka. My right fist came down fairly hard on Chamomile's head and he cried out in pain from the impact, "Don't tease her ya dirty rat, or the next hit will be with my left hand and a good deal harder." I hissed to Chamomile, before there was then a poof of white smoke and Nodoka was back to normal, before her stomach growled loudly.

Negi and the rat, took Nodoka off to get her something to eat, in order to refill her energy that had been used for the invoking of her contract. I didn't follow them, as I saw there being other things in need of doing. There was still that 'fairy' as Negi called it out and about, causing trouble and I didn't like that hanging over us. Since I had managed to attach some mythril onto it, I should be able to track the little gremlin down and handle it efficiently, bringing the issue to a close.

Began searching around the area that it had appeared yesterday, then systematically worked my way out from that point. Felt nothing, that is until I got around the outer parts of the academy where there was a couple of different sites, that I felt a response from the mythril. Followed the feeling and it led me to a cemetery, where I found the little gremlin floating in the air, but that wasn't all I found. Nope, Negi was there along with Asuna and Nodoka beside him, Setsuna was a short distance from them. What got me even more on edge, was that Konoka was bound with vines connected to a 'tree' in the center of this cemetery, in the air above the ground. Setsuna leapt upward at Konoka, likely attempting to cut her down, but other vines attacked her and stopped her from accomplishing what she was trying to.

Witnessed Negi fire off a spell at the tree, but it was deflected. The thought that two more had just been added to the list of liabilities for Negi, flashed through my mind, but I ignored it for the moment. I spotted the gremlin move to be next to the tree, and I figured that if that gremlin was taken care of, then this would come to an end, so I ran towards it, transmuting a rod into a sword as a went. Then I used a gravestone as a launching object to propel myself at the trouble maker to strike it down. However, just as I was about to hit it, the little gremlin noticed me and disappeared, so I swung through nothing but air. Landed on the ground and caught sight of the tree withering away like it hadn't been there.

Let out a heavy sigh at the development of Negi gaining more of our students knowing he is a wizard and yet, not taking care of the gremlin for the trouble of that. Made my way over to where Negi and the others were, only to find that the other two who had a knack of ticking me off, the 'cat' Shigimi and the 'frog' Matsu. In fact, what I heard made it hard to not transmute the rod in hand into a club and send them flying, "More have seen you practice magic Negi, you cannot deny that this time," said Matsu.

"You know what that means, don't you Negi?" posed Shigimi happily.

I stepped forward and made my voice known, "Need I remind the two of you, that neither of you are in any position to talk about reporting someone else. Unless that is, you want me to spill your secret that would get you and your master into serious trouble in several ways."

After that, the rat came to Negi's defense, one of the few good things he does for the kid. Still, it came down to me to shoo the two tattle tales away and they did leave, which served to help a little with the current situation. Once it was proven that everyone was okay, all of us began to make our way back towards the dorms. The day was coming to a close after the events that 'fairy' as Negi had called it had caused. To me, that little flower thing was a trouble making gremlin that stories portray. And with it having gotten away a second time now, it worried me what it would do in future, for I doubt it would lie low for long. I came out of my thoughts as I picked up on the rat explaining about how Asuna and Nodoka were Negi's partners and what that meant. When I glanced around seeing that it was to Konoka that the white rat was doing this for.

I sighed at the issue that Chamomile was creating for Negi without thinking about the kid, and that this wasn't new, made this worse. It was when I heard my name being mentioned, that my attention sharpened, "So then, if Negi has both Asuna and Nodoka as his partners, then who is around to help Matthew?" Asked Konoka.

Everyone stopped at that question including myself, the girls seemed to be listening, while Negi was looking away. I believe that there has been a misunderstanding made, that being I'm a wizard and that is not the case at all. I cleared my throat, "Um Konoka, I don't have a partner…" I began and was about to explain that I'm alchemist and not a wizard, yet wasn't given the opportunity to say so.

No, what happened was Konoka coming up and wrapped her arms around my middle in a hug, which was one of the last reactions that I had thought I would get. Had just enough time to raise my arms as she embraced me, "Then can I be your partner Matthew?" She inquired.

Konoka looked up at my face with a mix of a smile and a 'puppy dog' look, which made her quite cute. …I'm embarrassed to say it, but I stuttered an amount, before I was able to answer in a calm, logical manner, "Uh… um…er, Konoka, I can't make contracts like Negi can, since I'm not a wizard technically," I replied.

Then Asuna spoke up, "Yeah freaking right you're not a wizard! You made a sword out of thin air with magic to attack that fairy, so don't deny that you're a wizard Matthew Selvess, if that's your real name."

"Asuna… you shouldn't… talk to one of our professors like that," whispered Nodoka.

Konoka glared at her roommate, "Asuna, what are you so mean to not only Negi, but also Matthew," she nearly demanded.

I was more surprised that Asuna had seen me perform a transmutation, though it wasn't like I was hiding the fact that I can do such things. "Ladies, enough of you bickering with each other!" I hollered, before continuing in a normal volumed voice, "For your information Asuna, my name is Matthew Selvess, it is the one I was born with. I am not a wizard as I stated, I don't believe that 'magic' exists, it is only a word that people use to explain something they don't understand or don't use their intelligence they have to explain it. What Negi does, is elemental manipulation, not magic! He will disagree with me in this and he is welcome to, I will not fault him for that opinion. Finally, I didn't make a sword out of thin air," I said grabbing one of my mythril rods, held it between my thumb and pointer finger, before clapping my hands together and pulling them apart while transmuting the metal into a longer rod as I didn't want to swing something dangerous around in the present company. "I change a short metal rod into a sword, it's a skill I have called alchemy, which is an art and a 'science', not an unexplained ability that a number call magic."

Konoka gained an expression of disappointment, but then looked to Negi and went over to him, "Negi, how about you do a contract with me, so then I can help Matthew and you?" She requested.

The request took Negi and me by surprise however, Setsuna stepped forward at that moment, "Miss Konoka, you shouldn't get involved in any of this! If you're in any danger then you have me to save you from it, so you don't need anything else." She stated.

As much as I dislike being 'the devil's advocate', I feel I need to point out the fact that the truth of the matter is, Setsuna had just unable to save Konoka. "Uh Setsuna," I remarked and all looked to me, "Perhaps it is mean of me to remind you of this, but you were just unable to save Konoka, Negi got her out safely. You made an admirable attempt at doing so, but still, didn't save her, yet she is fine so no harm done. My point is that having help isn't a bad thing, so maybe toning down the pride, duty and honor thing just a bit from time to time would do well for you."

The matter of whether Konoka should or shouldn't make a contract with Negi was settled by the girl herself, she kissed Negi and the rat doing his thing, making the pactio contract official. Then she went over to Setsuna and hugged her, "I can't let you take that kind of risk all by yourself Setsuna" Konoka sobbed softly.

Girls… so emotional about the little things, have a hard time seeing why they make such a huge deal out of things. Know that my sister Maria would smack me upside the head for thinking such, but as she's not here, I don't have to worry about that.

Chapter end

 **A/n**

 **And that's where I'll end the chapter. Again, I've no idea where this chapter came from, one of those that just came in a huge surge and I managed to get it down. Now, in 3-A there will be some girls of course that will go for Negi and others will Go for Matthew. You can suggest all you want, but understand that the decision of who has relationships is mine in the end. And as for 'Truth' popping up, there is a reason, but I'm not saying what that is just yet. Anyways, some of you take the time to review and tell me what you think. Peace out all until next time!**


	5. Taking Care of Business

**A/n**

 **This Chapter, well came in bits and pieces, at least the second half came while I was writing the last chapter. Anyways, enjoy it and like always don't own nothing but my character and musing.**

Chapter 5: Taking Care of Business

Moments after Konoka had made her contract, a glow surrounded us all. So then, the fight isn't over yet with the gremlin, at least that would be my guess, then round 2? As the glow brightened, I swear that for a moment, there was someone approaching our group down the hallway that we were in. Yet, that could be me worrying about nothing, since the light of the spell blinded us and all the scenery changed around us.

When the glow died down, we looked around and found that we weren't at Mahora Academy anymore. By what I could see, it appeared that we were in Wales England, around an area that Negi had played while he was a child. However, there was something off about this, which led me to believe this was an illusion, a convincing one yes, but nonetheless, still an imitation in the end. One glance at Negi, told me that he felt the difference like I was, so I leaned down to his level, "Hey Negi, any thoughts as to what we're dealing with, since I don't doubt you know this isn't Wales as much as I do." I commented.

"By what I can tell, we are facing subornation magic," Negi answered me.

"Okay, then what does that imply as to our opponent?" I inquired.

"That we are either facing a vampire or this has something to do with the star crystal." Negi replied.

Neither of the ideas were appealing in my view, have had some experience with vampires, recently in fact in the form of Evangeline. Whereas this star crystal sounded like trouble that I wanted to avoid like a plague, it reminds me far too much like the Philosopher stone for my liking or peace of mind. Our situation worsened, when it became clear that we weren't alone and found that the gremlin was back and wasn't going to be any friendlier than before. The fairy wasn't by itself this time, there were three others with it.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that the three with the fairy, were students of Negi and me. the one with brown medium length hair was… Yuma Akashi… no, that doesn't sound right, know her last name is Akashi, but the first name I can't recall. The middle girl with light brown hair with a pony tail in the back, was I believe Kaede Nagase, her name was easier to remember than others. Then there was the orange-ish color hair, not as orange as Asuna's, but think her name is Hasegawa or something like that.

Shifted into a defensive fighting stance out of habit as both Negi and I made sure that we stood in front of the four girls behind us. Negi quickly realized as I had, that as things were, we would be facing three of our students and might have to hurt them to help them, "No, girls what are you doing?" he cried.

"Oh please," said Miss Akashi.

"It's no use, they already belong to me." Continued Miss Nagase, without skipping a beat.

"Your words cannot reach them," finished Miss Hasegawa.

Hmm, that was awkward and somewhat strange, three girls talking yet, speaking as if they were one person. Guess that's the gremlin's way of speaking… my question would be why?

Negi pointed his staff at the trouble maker, "I don't understand you, what do you want and why involved them in this?" he demanded.

I kept my focus on the gremlin and the girls, who I saw all had a large blade with them, but I did give Negi advice, "Don't waste your time Negi, unlikely that we'll get an answer that makes sense or tells the real reason. Villains rarely, if ever have the curtesy to do that," I said, reaching for one of my mythril rod.

"Oh come on," began Miss Akashi.

"What do you think," Posed Miss Nagase.

"Please, they did nothing wrong," pleaded Negi.

I grumbled at Negi's naïveté, locking my gaze onto the gremlin as it's the one speaking, even if through the girls. "Obviously, you intend to use our students against us… I take it as a means to cause suffering on our part?" I inquired flatly.

The gremlin… gave a creepy smile, "You're correct, and," started Hasegawa.

Then it switched over to Akashi, "I will not."

"Be letting," continued Nagase.

This kept going with Hasegawa, "Them go."

"Until you," said Akashi.

"Suffer greatly," finished Nagase.

The pain was evident on Negi's face, and I wasn't feeling good about the possibility of having to potentially hurt those I'm responsible for. The girls began to laugh like they had talked, switching between one another as they did so.

"They're going Stepherd!" exclaimed the rat.

What he had said, made no sense to me, who or what is Stepherd? And to what is the white rat referring to when he says that anyways? Made my thoughts vocal instead of just wondering, "What does that even mean rat… never mind!" I asked in a slightly annoyed tone, waving off Chamomile.

Negi got to doing his thing by invoking the contracts of all three of his partners at once, which would either be a tad impressive or a serious kick to the rear. I kept watching as the contracts and with a poof of smoke, out came an unexpected sight. Asuna… well, she wasn't in the armor with large cleaver in hand, she appeared to be a pig with her face on it. Then you have Nodoka, who… looked like a seal? Quite different from the glasses and book in hand like I had seen the last time, again with her face on the front of the 'seal'. Finally, there was Konoka, who looked to have turned into a koala, pretty cute actually were I to tell the truth. However, I believe this fall under the 'a serious kick to the rear', yet I would rephrase it to 'a money shot to the family jewels' to get my point across in this.

"Shoot, the dud card for all three," cried Chamomile.

Couldn't help the sigh that escaped me, "Don't know if I should find this sort of cute, or just down right sad to see. Still, tell me ya white rat, you said before now, that picking the 'dud card' has something like a one out of ten chance of happening. So then, what's the probability of picking three at the same time?" I questioned.

Didn't receive an answer to my question, but I hadn't asked it to get one, had done it to shut up the rat really. We were in a rather problematic set of circumstances and the two cents of an idiot wasn't needed right now. The reality was brought back to us as the controlled girls spoke up again, "They really do present," began Hasegawa.

"A rather terrifying force," Akashi kept going.

"Come on, hit me with your best shot, fire away," completed Nagase.

The three had a laughing fit, switching between each other once more. But then, Asuna, Nodoka and Konoka started mimicking them like children trying to be funny. So, not only does their appearance change to being childish, their mental processes do as well, that's rather troubling.

"Cute girls, now hows about we focus," hollered the rat.

"Start praying!" shouted Hasegawa, then the three controlled girls charged forward at our group.

Reacted immediately, clapped my hands together and then slammed them to the ground, causing the rock to shoot upward. This forced the puppeted students to come to a halt for a moment, which I took to back up to where everyone was. Negi began chanting a spell as I did, "Like sand dancing on the wind, like foam melting into the water, hide us now in darkness, Telma Amoreista!" he chanted.

There was a flash and everything around vanished for a bit, but as when a spell is done on me, things didn't happen the way any thought. The next time I opened my eyes, found myself somewhere else in this 'Wales forest', no one else was around me… great. Fell to my knees, but I managed to stabilize myself and regained my bearings. Would seem Negi's spell had an unexpected affect with me, which is one of the biggest standing issues that I have with elemental manipulation, it doesn't do the same thing to me that it does to others, very unpredictable. Don't doubt that 'Truth' laughs his head off every time a 'spell' is used on me and I get a ridiculous result! Oh well, might as well start walking as I have little else to do right now. Plus, would be best to find the others as quickly as possible, there's safety in numbers, and I've learned the truth of that statement the hard way.

Hadn't been walking for more than five minutes, when I heard noise from ahead me. I looked carefully in front and out of the greenery came three figures, followed by a fourth and smaller figure. The figures were my three students that were being controlled along with the gremlin controlling them. "It's you three again, today keeps getting better at making my life more non-dull," I muttered to myself.

Transmuted two of my rods into swords, one a katana-type, the other a cutlass and then took up a defensive stance. The fairy looked at me for a long moment, then… I think snubbed me off, or something like that.

"You aren't the one," said Akashi.

"Although it wouldn't matter," continued Nagase.

"Should you disappear," finished Hasegawa.

It's kind of annoying to have to listen to this little punk use three of my students to speak for it, though it's clear now that Negi is this fairy's target, the plot thickens! "Then, your master has an issue with Negi then, do they?" I posed.

The fairy stopped and turned back to face me, "What is it to you?" Asked Akashi.

"Call it my scientific curiosity getting the better of me. As far as I know, there's not really anyone that has made it clear that they have anything against Negi before. So, makes me wonder what Negi unknowingly did to tick someone off enough to want him to suffer. The kid is so naïve that he wouldn't do something to slight someone knowingly," I answered.

"It isn't any," Nagase began.

"Of your business," said Hasegawa.

A frown came across my face, for reply I was given by this gremlin through my students, irked me. Not only were my students, who's safety is my responsibility to an extent, being put in danger. Negi is also being targeted by someone who clearly knows him as the scenery says, and that doesn't sit well with me at all. I pinned the fairy with my gaze, "Then guess what, you trouble making gremlin or whatever you are, I'm making this my business right here, right now!" I stated firmly in the form of a challenge.

The air all around screamed of an impending fight and I was ready, the grip I had on both my swords tightened a little. But then, the fairy and the girls suddenly turned on the spot and ran away, leaving me where I stood. Of course, I chased after them, had put my two swords through loops on my hips and charged after them. With how I'd confirmed that their target was my young friend Negi, there was no way that I would just stand by and let that happen and do nothing!

The sight ahead of me, became a castle, one that's in England I had been around and so had Negi. As I got closer I to the castle, the sound of fighting was heard and I picked up my running pace. A screech, likely from the gremlin pierced the quiet by the time I reached the castle gate. The portcullis was down, barring the way forward, wasting no time, brought my hands together and then touched the portcullis. The second I made contact with the bars, they shattered into pieces, blasting forward, leaving the gateway clear for me.

Kept homing in on where I was hearing the clashing of weapons and the other sounds of fighting. But along the way, I was forced to parry with my cutlass an incoming attack that came from Miss Kaede. While she kept on the pressure, Akashi came from above and came at me, yet I blocked her with my katana. Then putting forth some real effort, I pushed forward and sent both girls backward. The reason I'm not doing more direct blows, I was attempting to avoid hurting any of the three girls, since obviously, it's not their fault they're fighting me, the one responsible would be that annoying gremlin.

Yet, after landing, all three girls turned away from me and headed further into the castle. I once more, charged after them, but this time, they were able to lose me or I lost them… same result in the end really. So, I was forced to wander the hallways, looking for something to work with to find where Negi or anyone else was. For a few minutes walking, not finding anything that helped me, that's until an explosion came from ahead me. Rushed forward in the direction of the explosion, as such noise do tend to denote danger and that's what I'm looking for at the moment. Believe I will find the rest of the party that I had been with when I go towards danger, counterintuitive I know, but that's how it goes.

Saw a doorway in front and without hesitation, burst through the doorway and found myself looking at quite the scene. Negi and the girls that had been with us were still with him now and they were facing the none other than the gremlin and the three controlled girls. My young friend had transformed all three of his partners. Asuna was in the red outfit with armor like she had used against Eva before. Nodoka was in… some sort of witch looking outfit, best way I can think to describe it, also had four books floating around her. Konoka well, she was sporting a priestess look and seemed to have… some sort of wooden stick thing in her hands. The gremlin had a large tree behind it and the three controlled girls were standing on different branches from one another.

The trouble maker signaled to attack Negi and co, to which, I was surprised to observe Nodoka somehow accurately say to the other how each attack came. While the battle was going, I glanced over and realized two things; I was completely unnoticed by all in the room, and that the gremlin was sitting watching the battle lazily, letting the girls it controlled do all the work.

Well, think it's high time that gremlin gets moving, or else it will be made into a salad by me! I reached to the back of my belt, grabbed one of the vials that I had mixtures that ranged in their volatility. Picked the one I wished to use and brought it forward, the vial was sealed shut as they all were. The mixtures as volatile as they were, only became that way when they came into contact with oxygen which is in the air. I tossed the vial in the direction of the gremlin, who didn't even see the glass tube spinning towards itself. Once it was close enough by my view, I snapped my fingers at it, causing the glass vial to crack, exposing the liquid inside. The effect was quick to come, for less than a second after the liquid mixed with oxygen, the reaction was a concussive blast to occur. The bang not only caught the trouble maker off guard, it sent it tumbling sideways from the blast's force.

I didn't stop there, oh no! That blast gave me inspiration, and though I'm not as good as Mustang is, I'm not too shabby at fire alchemy. Pointed a finger at the gremlin and snapped my fingers and a fiery explosion engulfed the punk. It screamed as flames surrounded it, while I advanced forward, making my way up the tree, dodging the attacking limbs as I went. Used alchemy to get closer along with my blades, the gremlin was getting more vicious as I came closer to it. However, I got close enough to throw and land a punch on the plant fairy with my left arm and sent the gremlin flying towards the ground.

Made my way down, using branches and vines to get towards the ground without hurting or killing myself in the process. Along my way, I saw the battle wasn't going nicely, as Asuna, Nodoka and Konoka were captured by the tree. Yet, Negi had apparently, made a contract with Setsuna and she now had wings and was in a samurai's outfit. When I was a short distance from the ground and in range of the fairy, I leapt out towards it. Negi was coming from below on his staff, charging up a spell, while I was snapping my fingers again and again, making blast after blast happen around the gremlin. My work kept the trouble maker in a small area and Negi was going straight for it. Then through our combined efforts, Negi got the fairy in his spell, changing it into what looked like an oddly shaped crystal.

I touched down to the ground, right leg first to take the impact better, then glanced around to see how things stood. Negi was smiling at me, in thanks for the help, but as we approached each other, the scenery began to disappear around us. Looking behind us, we saw that the three girls trapped by the tree began to fall. Negi zoomed forward on his staff and caught Nodoka, but that's only one out of three. I'd sprinted forward just after Negi had zoomed passed me, but now I had to make the choice about whom I would get under to catch. Asuna and Konoka were falling close together, yet by the time they would be close to the ground they would be far enough apart that I couldn't receive both before they hit the ground. Setsuna, made a valiant attempt to grab Konoka's hand as she fell, but she missed, yet caught Asuna's arm.

That helped me decide which way to go, managed to get myself under Konoka and catch her in my arms. Was kind of surprised how light Konoka felt to me, though I can lift far more than would be proportional to my weight… long story as to why. Looked over the girl and felt relief to see that she wasn't hurt in some obvious way. Setsuna put down Asuna and then rushed over to me, panicking about whether Konoka was okay. Took me some time to reassure the girl that Konoka was uninjured and calm her down a little.

It was at that point that I noted that we were in the room that we had been in before being drawn into whatever that fake Wales had been. My gaze fell on the three girls that had been controlled by the gremlin, lying a short distance from where the rest of us were. Also saw that they were starting to wake up as well, looking around, appearing to be confused about where they were and what was going on. However, they seemed not to remember what they had done or had even been aware that they had been controlled by another. They left shortly after waking up, "Well well, look at this, appears like you've been witnessed performing magic Negi," said an annoying voice that was grating to me now.

Turned and saw as I figured from hearing the voice, Shigimi and Matsu both with grins that only tattle tales have when they are doing their work of telling on another. "You know what that means Negi!" Shigimi sang.

I carefully set down Konoka, laying her against the nearest wall and then walked over to be behind the two who have been so intent on calling Negi out. "Oh indeed, we will report you to the magic academy," said Matsu.

Grabbed the two, Shigimi in my right hand and Matsu in my left, brought them up to my eye level and glared at them, "I've lost count of how many times I've told you that you're in no position to tattle on anyone else, when you're far guiltier. So, if you don't want me to tell all about you, then shut your mouths," I growled at the two.

Kept Shigimi and Matsu in my grip, drew back my arms before I continued, "Now then, have a nice trip with your flight, which departs now!" I said before throwing both Shigimi and Matsu through the closest window and watched them as they flew a good distance with the force that I threw them with.

Spun around and went back to where I had placed Konoka and picked her back up. Decided that it would be gentlemanly of me to carry the girl back to the dorm and room. Looked over at Negi and saw that he was gawking at me, to which an eyebrow of mine rose, "Why are you looking at me like that Negi?" I asked.

"Matthew, why did you do that?" Negi questioned in shock.

I stared at my young friend, "Seriously Negi, those two were about to rat you out, which would lose your credentials as a wizard! Yet, you still defend those two, when their goal is to get you to fail the exam that you're doing? Negi, you're being too nice for your own good, those two are not here to help you in anyway, understand that," I reasoned.

Left Negi there, not listening to his reply and carried Konoka back towards the third-year dorm, Setsuna wasn't far behind me. She started as silent, but didn't stay so for long, "Professor Selvess, weren't you a little harsh with Professor Springfield?"

I sighed, "It may seem that way however, it's not that way. Negi is a smart kid, but he's still just that, a kid and is a very trusting one at that. I admire that he's a kind-hearted and trusting boy, but I'm what most would call a more realistic thinker. As such, I'm well aware that people are not like Negi see and believes they are. Negi believes that all people can be reasoned with and that there are no truly evil people, very childish view, but that's how he is. There are those that will take advantage of Negi's innocent view and use him for their own purposes." I iterated to Setsuna.

Setsuna appeared to be thinking upon what I said as we walked the rest of the way to the dorm and to Asuna's and Konoka's room. I set Konoka down on the bottom bunk of the bunkbed, she still hadn't woken up yet. But, I left Setsuna there to watch after her and trudged back to where I had left Negi.

 **-Scene Change-**

Evening came, and as it was Thursday and the scuffle we were involved in, it meant for me a particular event was to take place as it had almost every other day. One thing I have to state, that can be considered a short coming of Negi's, he hates baths. And it's to the point that he avoids them and neglects his personal hygiene. So, it has come down to me tracking him down at least three nights a week, usually Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday being the normal nights I end out doing so and make sure he gets his bath.

Most would think that after a week or two of me doing this consistently, Negi would learn that he wouldn't be able to get out of taking a bath as I'll see that he takes one period. But no, Negi still tries each of time this event comes around, to get away from me and out of being forced to take a bath, he still has yet to succeed. I don't intend or foresee that changing in the future, I will make sure of it.

I grabbed one of my longer mythril rods along with a small drum of sturdy cord and left my room, beginning the hunt for the kid that was trying to run from me. Wondered leisurely down the hallways of the dorm, whistling as I went, looking for signs that Negi had been around. It was down the hall that Asuna's and Konoka's room was down, which was the room that Negi stayed in, that I got the first sign. Smirked as I looked down the hall carefully and heard the rat's voice, decided that Negi was hiding out in 'his' room. I backtracked to the doorway that led to the large common room in the dorm building, since Negi would have to go through here to get out of the dorm itself. Climbed up to the second-floor walkway and out on a beam above the doorway Negi would come through, that I had made through transmutation weeks earlier.

Tied one end of the cord to the end of my mythril rod and then let the rest stretch downward towards the ground below. I held the rod like a fishing pole and sat on the beam and leaned back against the wall behind it and waited. Didn't have to wait all that long when I heard a door open and close, and I smiled. I looked down and saw a head of red hair came into view and I adjusted where the cord fell to be just behind where Negi was. When I lowered the cord to where I wanted, I snapped my fingers and the cord wrapped itself around Negi in a second and then I yanked upward on my 'pole'. Negi yelped as he flew upward and was wrapped tighter as he sailed to the same level that I was waiting.

Once the boy came to face me, he gained an expression of fear, "Evening Negi, where might you be going at this hour?" I inquired with a slight smile.

Negi looked panicked, "Um… well, you see Matthew…" he began.

He stopped once he saw the knowing look I gave him, "It's Thursday Negi, you should be aware what that means by now, right? And then, with all that went on today, well you should know what was coming." I posed in an amused tone.

Negi paled, "Matthew… please, you know how much I hate them." he begged.

Shook my head, "Nope, not a good excuse Negi, you will learn the necessity of personal hygiene, whether I have you learn it by force or you choose to do it. We have been going through this since the first week up till now, would have hoped that you would understand by now that I will not back down on this." I stood up and brought my mythril pole over the back of my shoulder with Negi bound to it now and walked over to the second-floor walkway. "Plus, Nekane did ask me to make sure you kept decently clean while we're here. So, with that in mind, time for us to head for the bath Negi!"

Negi began to complain and struggle as I calmly made my way to back to the first floor, yet as I was going down the stairs, I snapped my fingers again tapped Negi and his collar shifted to cover his mouth, silencing him somewhat. If I was seen, with Negi, who was now close to fully bound to my long rod, then some might get the wrong idea and I don't want to have to deal with that. But luck was on my side tonight, since around two weeks ago, I had laid down a rule that dictated and clarified the hours when the communal bath would be available and to whom. On the nights that I 'forced' Negi to have a bath, I made sure the bath was usable by Negi and myself until 9pm. I always left the hour before open, as there have been a couple of times that Negi does evade me for a bit, never gets away though.

So, most of the dorm tenants were in their rooms, I would hope doing school work, but can't say for sure with any of them. Anyways, I reached the changing room to the communal bath, Negi still caught. I set the kid down gently in the middle of the room, turned and made it so the door was 'locked'… neat what alchemy can do, I'll tell you! Once that was done, I snapped my fingers then touched the cord binding Negi, which loosened and fell to the floor. Negi instantly backed away from me, yet I walked forward towards him, even as he backed away from me. The rat, lunged in my direction to attack me. I side-stepped and caught him in mid-air, grabbed the small metal box I hid in here earlier, chucked the white rat in, before I transmuted bars into place to keep the pervert contained.

Refocused back on Negi, who was panicking and was trying to open the door I locked. I sighed, "You won't get through that door Negi, the doorframe will give way before the door will. I know how to lock a door by an alchemic seal and that don't come undone without canceling the seal first. Now then Negi, STRIP BOY! It's time for your bath and those clothes are in the way," I commanded, taking off my own shirt.

Negi whined and tried to get away from me, but, I merely frowned, before striding forward, grabbing the kid and started peeling off the clothes from his body. Honestly, for Negi being a 'prodigy' and a 'genius', he's such a kid when it comes to things like this. Had him naked in a little over a minute of his struggling against my right hand stripping him. After he was done, I got the rest of my clothes off with one hand still holding Negi, preventing him from running. The rat was rattling his 'cage' I put him in, but that 'box' was strong, made it myself, and so it kept Chamomile from interfering.

I carried Negi by one arm and dragged him through the door to the bath, he was complaining the whole way, yet I ignored that. The communal bath, was made up of four baths overall, two large ones that looked more like swimming pools, one of which has a small area closed off. The other two were circular pools that were moderately sized and had other 'features' that the other two didn't. The closest wall, had washing stations to work with and that's where I headed for first. Plopped Negi down on a stool, held him down to the stool with my right hand and grabbed shampoo with my left. "Negi, close your eyes and don't open them until I say so, unless you want to have shampoo in your eyes, like you got the last few times," I said, before lathering Negi's hair up.

Began scrubbing the kid's scalp while his complaining lessened, I exhaled heavily, "Man Negi, you act like such a kid with the simplest of things, even if you're a genius with what you do." I remarked tiredly.

"I am not a kid," Negi shot back.

I paused for a moment, looked down at Negi, then snorted, "First of all, physically speaking, you are a child still, mentally I give you it's a different matter. However, emotionally, you've been proving otherwise this evening my young friend. Being an adult does mean that you do things that are needed even when you don't like the activity. Personal hygiene is something that would be considered as a need," I returned.

Kept washing and cleaning Negi, until he was clean, kid had a good deal of dirt from dealing with that gremlin earlier. Once he was rinsing himself off, I got down to washing myself as I had also gotten dirtier than usual today. Got done by the time Negi was done rinsing, and I turned to him, "Say Negi, that 'fairy' as you called it, I believe it was targeting you, meaning that whomever it was representing has an issue with you." I commented.

Negi stared at me, as I dumped a bucket of water over myself, "What do you mean Matthew?" he questioned.

I rose and Negi followed me to the closer pool of warm water and sunk into the water. My prosthetics are waterproof, so I had nothing to fear, much like my automail had been. Let out a contented sigh, before I answered Negi's question, "When we were separated, came across the gremlin and those it controlled at the time. They pretty much admitted that I wasn't the one that they were after, which leaves you. Never got to them telling me why you were who they wanted, but I doubt that gremlin will be the only one we see."

Negi hummed his agreement to my final statement, meaning that we at least agreed that more trouble was going to be coming our way. My attention shifted as the sound of female voices came to my ears from not too far away. Not all that worried at the moment, I posted the rule about bath usage on the common room bulletin board long enough ago that all should have read it by now. That would mean that they should know that until 9pm, the bath is off limits. So, I leaned back and enjoyed the feeling of the warm water relaxing my muscles from a long day.

There then came a dull thud and minutes later, the door to the bath complex slid open, "…No clue why the door wouldn't open," said a familiar teenage voice.

Negi and I turned our heads back towards the door, into the huge room that the baths occupy, came four girls. Those girls would be none other than; Asuna, who was in the lead, Konoka right behind her, Setsuna next to Konoka and Nodoka bring up the rear. And, with this being a bath, the girls only had towels in their arms and nothing else, much like Negi and I were sporting. Now what my question is, had any of these girls looked at the bulletin board and if so, what were they doing?! If they hadn't, then who is it that led them into this? My impressions of the girls here, told me that all but Asuna would have looked at the board by this time and would have read the rule. So, what is all of this, and how did they get past the door that I alchemically sealed?! That's no small or simple task to get through such… please tell me she didn't damage the frame around the door?!

Not saying that the girls don't have nice bodies or anything like that, after all they're developing young women, some more than others. Nevertheless, I don't have an interest in that kind of relationship at this time and I have well-practiced self-control. I cleared my throat to get everyone's attention, "Ladies, you should be aware that it isn't 9pm yet, so the bath isn't open to you right now," I stated flatly.

All the girls stared at Negi and me for a good minute. Nodoka blushed a deep red and turned around, muttering words I couldn't hear clearly enough to identify properly. Konoka merely smiled a bit, making me think she saw nothing wrong with them being in here while Negi and I are. Meanwhile, Setsuna's expression informed me that she wasn't pleased with being as exposed as she was with Negi and me in the room. Then last of all, Asuna had the worst reaction out of the four, and started screeching at us. …Seriously, all I wanted was to have a nice relaxing soak after the day of hard work that today had been. I had thought I could do two things at once and get Negi to have a bath since it's one of the usual nights he gets one and he needed it. But no, I get one of my students screaming at me about how much a pervert I am for being in a women's bath, when she shouldn't be in here right now anyways according to the rules that I, the dorm manager set.

When Asuna paused to take a breath, I put my defense in and will be heard, "Asuna, apparently, you should glance at the common room bulletin board a little more often. There was a rule posted almost two weeks ago, stating that the hours of usage for the baths were changed and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the bathing facilities aren't open until 9pm and it hasn't gotten that late yet." I iterated.

Asuna didn't appear to believe me, but Konoka then spoke up, "Asuna, we tried to tell you that the time that the bath was available had changed, but you kept waving us off by saying no one would make such stupid rules." She began.

I gave Asuna a stern expression, "Stupid rule you say Asuna, well sorry that my attempt to minimize the chance of Negi and myself bathing with any of those living in the dorm is so dumb. But, as the dorm manager, I have the authority to make such rules, deal with it," I returned.

Asuna looked confused at what I had said, "Wait, did you say that you're the dorm manager?!" she exclaimed.

I nodded in reply, before Konoka started lecturing her roommate about her manners or lack thereof. I just shook my head and returned to soaking, yet Negi then spoke to me in a volume that the girls didn't hear. "Matthew, I was thinking, perhaps you should mention your metal limbs before one of them discovers them by mistake."

Stared at Negi for a good ten seconds, "I see no reason to bring up the point that I have two artificial limbs, they don't need to know, so why tell them something they will overreact about." I replied.

Thought that would be the end of this rendition of Negi's insistence of telling others more than they need to know. However, Negi wouldn't drop the subject of talking about my prosthetics and he wouldn't let me ignore it this time. I know that Negi is curious about my past and I have told him nicely that my past wasn't a subject up for telling or discussing. Yet, Negi has brought it up from time to time and so he does again, kid doesn't take a hint. I don't hate him or get mad at him for doing so, nonetheless, I dislike when he does bring up the subject. However, with the stress that had been building since we had gotten here, anger flared up in me. My feelings showed in the form of annoyance, "Negi, it's nice of you to be concerned about me, but this ISN'T your business," I got out with only a little anger showing itself before I reined it in. My arms had come up and had been making motions to help get across my point of my prosthetics aren't anyone's business but mine.

Negi and I were up standing while facing each other, it made more of a difference with me than Negi due to the fact that I'm taller. Nevertheless, the lengthening silence got me and Negi to glance back at the girls who had stopped sniping at one another. Noticed them staring at Negi and I, or really more at me, their gazes ranging between my left arm and the pieces that connected and supported my shoulder port. I frowned and sighed, "Well… I guess that settles the matter, not the way I would've liked, but still." I muttered.

"What the heck is up with your arm and all that other junk?!" exclaimed Asuna.

Got to say, some serious lack of tact Asuna has as well as manners, doesn't she? I didn't reply to the question, nor her comment about the 'junk' as she called my shoulder port, its housing and anchoring struts. Saw no reason to say anything in response, even if they haven't seen anything like what I have due to the… mistake Maria and I had made so long ago.

Made my way out of the water, still heard Negi speaking, "Girls, this is not what you think," he said in an attempt to explain.

And he had wanted me to just tell them, probably thinking that they wouldn't react like this. I knew that they would react with shock, it's normal, has happened more times than I can count anymore. I hauled myself out of the pool and didn't miss the gasp that I think came from Nodoka, no doubt from viewing my right leg. Didn't pay any attention to them, rather decided to go to the largest pool and get in. Started swimming some laps to take my mind off the commotion that Negi and the girls were making.

Yet, after ten minutes, the noise didn't stop, so I took that to mean it wouldn't for a while. That being said, I went back to the changing room and dried myself off with a towel. I had got on my pants, before I grabbed the cage I had put the rat in and looked inside, only to have Chamomile lunge and strike the bars with a nice sounding clang. "Now now dirty white rat, you're in this cage because I don't trust that when left to your own devices, you would behave yourself like Negi thinks you would. I know better and you've proven to me that you can't be trusted," I said.

Chamomile bristled at me, "You do this cause your jealous of me!" he spat at me.

I was taken aback, before I laughed, "Jealous? Hardly Chamomile, you've shown me that you're a pervert and those types aren't trustworthy at all in my book. So then, I recommend that you listen to what I'm about to tell you, for your own well-being if anything else." I stated, before making sure the rat was looking at me, "Should I hear or learn of you practicing your perverted tenancies, then I'll not ignore such things. No," I continued, before my voice became serious and cold, "I'll tie you down and… oh what's the term these days? Ah yes, neuter, that's right, I'll neuter you and do so the old fashion way by just cutting yours off!" I hissed through my teeth.

Chamomile's eyes widened at my statement, "You… you wouldn't dare!" he challenged, but he didn't sound all that confident in what he said.

I grinned a bit, "You think that do you? Willing to bet yours on that? Well then, so that you understand how serious I am, when I slowly slice off your male dignity, you will have nothing to dull the pain when I'm doing the cutting!" I stated in close to a growl. The rat was shaking at what I had told him, but I kept going, "That's right you dirty white rat, you'll feel all the pain of being sterilized and having your ability of producing offspring taken away from you," I growled. Then my tone of voice changed to being calm and collected, "So, keep that in mind with those thoughts of yours. And don't count on Negi being able to cover for you or get you out of this, he won't."

After delivering my threat, I dropped the box, snapped my fingers before doing so, making the bars retract, letting Chamomile go wherever he wanted. The message had been given in a way that the rat understood should he misbehave. So, he knows what the consequences are and he will not enjoy them. I put my shirt back on, before heading back to my room and retired for the night, knowing that this wasn't the end of another finding out about my prosthetics by a long shot.

Chapter end

 **A/n**

 **Will be leaving off there. So as it goes, some have found out about Matthews… 'unique' standing, see how that goes as this story continues. Please some take the time to write a review and tell me what you think. Thanks all and peace out!**


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